The immigration debate is getting nasty

What is the Statue of Liberty trying to tell us?

“The Statue of Liberty says give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…”

But does it really?

On Wednesday, CNN’s Jim Acosta and senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller got into it over the president’s new immigration policy. Which, among other things, would give priority to immigrants who can speak English. Acosta objected, quoting the statue’s famous poem, which makes no mention of having to speak English, and arguing that an English requirement disrespects American history.

Nonsense, said Trump’s adviser.

“Right now, it’s a requirement that to be naturalized you have to speak English. So the notion that speaking English wouldn’t be a part of immigration systems would be very ahistorical.”

And then it got nasty.

“It sounds like you’re trying to engineer the racial and ethnic flow of people into this country.”

“Jim, that is one of the most outrageous, insulting, ignorant, and foolish things you’ve ever said. The notion that you think that this is a racist bill is so wrong and so insulting.”

Here we go again — this is nothing new.

Many people have argued that the poem was an afterthought because it was written to help raise money to build the base after the French forget to ship one over.

Some also say that the true message is the statue itself, which holds the torch and the sword as a challenge to others to try our way of government in their country, not for them to come here.

As for the poem’s apparent message of open borders, well, people will point out that it was affixed to the pedestal of the statue, and is in fact attached to the base.

So I think the White House would argue that the poem represents the opinion of the pedestal, not the woman standing on it. Plus, she’s the one holding the big stick.

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