Given the fact that Albert entered the United States under the name Jan Bialek and later burned his immigration papers it is evident he was by definition a “illegal immigrant.” He went on to become a very hard-working brick mason and law-abiding citizen raising 12 children with the help of his Polish wife Mary {nee Mazan} and the rest {as they say} is history.
1
The door has only ever been partially open...
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, banned Chinese immigration. It was the result of CA concerns over cheap labor deflating wages. It was not repealed until 1943.
The Immigration Act of 1924 established a quota system limiting immigration of any nationality to 2% of the total of that population already in the US, a special exception being made for Europeans after WWII. It was not repealed until 1965. At that time, relatives in this country could sponsor family members, limiting who could enter.
Yes, the Statue of Liberty is designed to be awe inspiring. Yes, millions have passed beneath her shadow, my Welsh relatives included. All those who did were processed, received medical exams (resulting in some being denied entrance) and were documented becoming legal residents.
It's all too easy to become misty eyed over family stories of harrowing 19th century journeys to find a better life. They came here to assimilate and become Americans. The country was flush with opportunity back then for anyone willing to work hard. While our resources are substantial compared to other parts of the world, there is far less available today than during the peak immigration period of 1880 to 1920.
Today, the world has more displaced people than ever. The idea that the US should throw open the door to any and all who can make it to our shores because that is what we "used to do" is supported by precious little history.
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, banned Chinese immigration. It was the result of CA concerns over cheap labor deflating wages. It was not repealed until 1943.
The Immigration Act of 1924 established a quota system limiting immigration of any nationality to 2% of the total of that population already in the US, a special exception being made for Europeans after WWII. It was not repealed until 1965. At that time, relatives in this country could sponsor family members, limiting who could enter.
Yes, the Statue of Liberty is designed to be awe inspiring. Yes, millions have passed beneath her shadow, my Welsh relatives included. All those who did were processed, received medical exams (resulting in some being denied entrance) and were documented becoming legal residents.
It's all too easy to become misty eyed over family stories of harrowing 19th century journeys to find a better life. They came here to assimilate and become Americans. The country was flush with opportunity back then for anyone willing to work hard. While our resources are substantial compared to other parts of the world, there is far less available today than during the peak immigration period of 1880 to 1920.
Today, the world has more displaced people than ever. The idea that the US should throw open the door to any and all who can make it to our shores because that is what we "used to do" is supported by precious little history.
2
How did a statue intended to commemorate the emancipation of American slaves come be be seen as a celebration of European immigration with which hardly any of the descendants of those slaves can identify?
4
Mr. Hutton's assertion that it's simply a product of great architecture and engineering reduces similarly diminishes works of art from the Chrysler Building and the Taj Mahal to Bernini's Baldacchino and Four Rivers Fountain.
2
The Statue of Liberty is looking east, not south.................she welcomes legal immigrants, not illegals breaking our laws...no one has the RIGHT to come here..............we have the right to control our borders, like every other country on earth except for canada
6
"With a broken chain at Liberty’s feet, the monument was conceived in France as a celebration of the abolition of slavery and the Union’s victory in the Civil War. But the meaning shifted over time ..."
It's a racist insult to African-Americans that the Statue of Liberty has been retconned into a Statue of Immigration.
It's a racist insult to African-Americans that the Statue of Liberty has been retconned into a Statue of Immigration.
2
No, it's not. That its symbolism can change over time and with differing sets of circumstances shows what a potent object it is. By your interpretation, a work of art's meaning should be set in stone for all time.
3
Hkguy, indeed people can attribute any meaning they wish to a symbol, but Americans should at least be made aware of the history of the statue and what it meant originally. To not teach that is arguably an insult to african americans.
The Magen David 8th grader who's quoted in this article has it half right:
“Lady Liberty shows that everyone and anyone can come in... rich, poor, immigrants. We’ll treat them equally.”
We treat them without fear or favor, according to our immigration laws: obey the law, follow the rules, and in due course, if your application is valid, after 10 years or so, you will become a US citizen.
If you enter the US unlawfully, or overstay your visa, then the law stipulates that you will be forcibly removed - regardless of your nationality.
Support lawful immigration. Support equality under law. Support the fair, swift and unbiased application of our immigration laws.
Deport the over 11 million foreign nationals who are illegally resident in our nation.
They are abusing our system, destroying respect for law, and demonstrating their contempt for those who obeyed our laws, followed the rules and gained citizenship lawfully.
To the same extent that we admire _lawful immigrants_ who cherish our republic and its laws, we despise the illegal aliens who show blatant contempt for our law-based republic. Deport them all.
“Lady Liberty shows that everyone and anyone can come in... rich, poor, immigrants. We’ll treat them equally.”
We treat them without fear or favor, according to our immigration laws: obey the law, follow the rules, and in due course, if your application is valid, after 10 years or so, you will become a US citizen.
If you enter the US unlawfully, or overstay your visa, then the law stipulates that you will be forcibly removed - regardless of your nationality.
Support lawful immigration. Support equality under law. Support the fair, swift and unbiased application of our immigration laws.
Deport the over 11 million foreign nationals who are illegally resident in our nation.
They are abusing our system, destroying respect for law, and demonstrating their contempt for those who obeyed our laws, followed the rules and gained citizenship lawfully.
To the same extent that we admire _lawful immigrants_ who cherish our republic and its laws, we despise the illegal aliens who show blatant contempt for our law-based republic. Deport them all.
6
Rather than deport 11 million people, deport the senators and congressmen who caused the problem by failing for years to pass enforceable laws laws that would have prevented this problem!
"deport the senators and congressmen who caused the problem by failing for years to pass enforceable laws laws that would have prevented this problem!"
The laws are enforceable, they just aren't enforced.
The laws are enforceable, they just aren't enforced.
1
This Colossus of great promise interposed between men of great fear and a world that has always longed for America to be America.
2
" a world that has always longed for America to be America."
Perhaps the world should try to be the America America already is. None come close and that's why they become refugees.
Perhaps the world should try to be the America America already is. None come close and that's why they become refugees.
1
Interesting comment from an engineer (Mr. Hutton). Max Frisch's "Homo Faber" comes to life at the base of possibly the most famous symbol of freedom on earth under which, literally, tens millions have passed looking for a better life for their families. Mr. Hutton needs to read some history books.
I'll add a shout out to my uncle who also passed under the torch in 1945 after 6 years in the Army, the last couple of which were in Patton's 3rd Army. The 3rd Army raced across Europe and pulled not only England's bacon out of the fire but Europe's itself.
I'll add a shout out to my uncle who also passed under the torch in 1945 after 6 years in the Army, the last couple of which were in Patton's 3rd Army. The 3rd Army raced across Europe and pulled not only England's bacon out of the fire but Europe's itself.
2
Jacob Kassin well captures the current meaning of the Statue of Liberty, for many people (including the board of the editorial page of the NY TImes): "Lady Liberty shows that everyone and anyone can come in." Any limitations on immigration are unjust.
Perhaps it is time to return to the original idea behind the statue, "Liberty Enlightening the World." The idea here is that the US can set an example to the rest of the world, by showing that a modern nation can be free and prosperous and provide a just and decent life for all its members.
Not "everyone move here," but "everyone work to create just and prosperous societies, all around the world."
In any case, the meaning of the Statue of Liberty can't safely be left to New Yorkers, who are way too comfortable living in the most economically unequal city in the U.S. Cheap labor and flooded labor markets are no problem for New Yorkers, but most of the rest of the country would prefer a more egalitarian distribution of wealth.
Perhaps it is time to return to the original idea behind the statue, "Liberty Enlightening the World." The idea here is that the US can set an example to the rest of the world, by showing that a modern nation can be free and prosperous and provide a just and decent life for all its members.
Not "everyone move here," but "everyone work to create just and prosperous societies, all around the world."
In any case, the meaning of the Statue of Liberty can't safely be left to New Yorkers, who are way too comfortable living in the most economically unequal city in the U.S. Cheap labor and flooded labor markets are no problem for New Yorkers, but most of the rest of the country would prefer a more egalitarian distribution of wealth.
The statue welcomed LEGAL immigrants!
3
"This too shall pass," as my mother used to say. Surely, the principles recognized by the Lazarus poem and the French gift to us will outlive one presidency. Even more certainly, they will outlive the influence of a President who didn't understand that healthcare is complicated or that Lincoln was a Republican.
8
It will certainly outlive the brief period of insanity that saw American progressives shift from disgust (cf Barbara Jordan, early 1990s) to actual embrace of mass-scale illegal immigration and its devastation of American labor, rule of law and public services in working-class communities.
2
Emma Lazarus' poem "The New Colossus" takes the complex emotions we feel about immigration and reduces them to a simple, compassionate welcome. Our own ancestors depended upon this welcome when they uprooted their lives in the Old Country and threw their fate and the fate of their families — and us — into the grand American experiment. I watch in horror as the door our ancestors walked through is being slammed behind us. What if that door had been closed on us or our loved ones? After all, most of us are immigrants or the children of immigrants.
In response to my youtube music video, "Mother of Exiles - the New Colossus", I have heard many retellings of family stories of immigration, and have witnessed many outpourings of conflicted emotions as people grapple with the loss of the American promise to immigrants. I urge you to add your story to mine at https://www.facebook.com/GarethLoy.MotherOfExiles.
In response to my youtube music video, "Mother of Exiles - the New Colossus", I have heard many retellings of family stories of immigration, and have witnessed many outpourings of conflicted emotions as people grapple with the loss of the American promise to immigrants. I urge you to add your story to mine at https://www.facebook.com/GarethLoy.MotherOfExiles.
2
If the Statue of Liberty is nothing but an engineering marvel, then Hamlet is a collection of sonnets and blank verse. Art is always more than the sum of its parts.
5
In this terrible time, it makes sense that true patriots are reaching for that which has made our country great - the Statue of Liberty, the Constitution and peaceful assembly.
Visits to Lady Liberty are up. The ACLU has given out hundreds of thousands of pocket Constitutions and millions of people are gathering to speak out.
It's enough to offer some kind of hope.
Visits to Lady Liberty are up. The ACLU has given out hundreds of thousands of pocket Constitutions and millions of people are gathering to speak out.
It's enough to offer some kind of hope.
2
The Constitution does not address illegal immigration; statute does.
The relevant statute is the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (aka "IIRIRA"), which corrected the disastrous elements of the Amnesty bill passed ten years earlier. That bill was designed to end illegal immigration but in fact increased it severalfold.
The IIRIRA bill resulted from the work of an independent bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform headed by liberal Congresswoman Barbara Jordan of Texas. In
their interim report, "U.S. Immigration Policy: Restoring Credibility" (1994), the Jordan Commission asserted that:
"The credibility of immigration policy can be measured by a simple yardstick: people who should get in, do get in; people who should not get in are kept out; and people who are judged deportable are required to leave."
In their final report, the Jordan Commission called for:
- Better integrating immigrants presently living in the U.S.
- Reducing legal immigration by one-third
- Moving towards more skill-based legal immigration and away from family chain migration
- Vigorously enforcing existing immigration laws, with no further amnesties
- Reorganizing the federal government's management of immigration processes.
Barbara Jordan was a liberal hero and a fierce defender of the rights of working Americans of all races. She was an equally fierce opponent of the scourge that is illegal immigration. Time to follow her example. Enforce the law.
The relevant statute is the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (aka "IIRIRA"), which corrected the disastrous elements of the Amnesty bill passed ten years earlier. That bill was designed to end illegal immigration but in fact increased it severalfold.
The IIRIRA bill resulted from the work of an independent bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform headed by liberal Congresswoman Barbara Jordan of Texas. In
their interim report, "U.S. Immigration Policy: Restoring Credibility" (1994), the Jordan Commission asserted that:
"The credibility of immigration policy can be measured by a simple yardstick: people who should get in, do get in; people who should not get in are kept out; and people who are judged deportable are required to leave."
In their final report, the Jordan Commission called for:
- Better integrating immigrants presently living in the U.S.
- Reducing legal immigration by one-third
- Moving towards more skill-based legal immigration and away from family chain migration
- Vigorously enforcing existing immigration laws, with no further amnesties
- Reorganizing the federal government's management of immigration processes.
Barbara Jordan was a liberal hero and a fierce defender of the rights of working Americans of all races. She was an equally fierce opponent of the scourge that is illegal immigration. Time to follow her example. Enforce the law.
3
Not only has the statue's symbolism been violated by extreme loss of civil rights inside France due to ongoing state of emergency (see http://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/EUR2133642016ENGLISH.pdf )
it was previously violated by Lyndon Johnson, wily Democrat president of ours from the 60s, when he signed the Immigration Bill in October1965 at Liberty Island, and by doing so, in one giant swoop, utterly undermined the Civil Rights Bill he had signed barely an year earlier. Making compliance with Civil Rights for American employers wholly cosmetic, and enabling them to sidestep hiring of African Americans for decades, by hiring immigrants instead.
Which they did in droves, just look at California. African Americans get short end of stick, immigrants, especially illegal, get driver licenses for the asking.
Let's face it: the statue is a sorry reminder of how in one country, immigrants are getting stripped of their rights on a daily basis (France), and in the other (the good ol' USA) how immigrants were used as proxy to continue denying African-Americans their deserved, not to mention hard-fought gains.
I say dismantle and return to sender, we pay all costs. Mr. President, I ask that you please do so via executive order in your last month in office, December 2024. Thank you.
it was previously violated by Lyndon Johnson, wily Democrat president of ours from the 60s, when he signed the Immigration Bill in October1965 at Liberty Island, and by doing so, in one giant swoop, utterly undermined the Civil Rights Bill he had signed barely an year earlier. Making compliance with Civil Rights for American employers wholly cosmetic, and enabling them to sidestep hiring of African Americans for decades, by hiring immigrants instead.
Which they did in droves, just look at California. African Americans get short end of stick, immigrants, especially illegal, get driver licenses for the asking.
Let's face it: the statue is a sorry reminder of how in one country, immigrants are getting stripped of their rights on a daily basis (France), and in the other (the good ol' USA) how immigrants were used as proxy to continue denying African-Americans their deserved, not to mention hard-fought gains.
I say dismantle and return to sender, we pay all costs. Mr. President, I ask that you please do so via executive order in your last month in office, December 2024. Thank you.
3
"... A new nation, conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Now we are engaged in a great Ideological war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
From Brexit to Europe to the White House we see a surge we are calling "populism" which term presumes it represents some popular will it does not. There have been such cycles of regression/repression before. Free speech fans the flames of fear, and fear becomes paranoia, seeing different people as Other than and worse than ourselves.
Cry Our Beloved Country.
From Brexit to Europe to the White House we see a surge we are calling "populism" which term presumes it represents some popular will it does not. There have been such cycles of regression/repression before. Free speech fans the flames of fear, and fear becomes paranoia, seeing different people as Other than and worse than ourselves.
Cry Our Beloved Country.
9
I'm with Mr. Barry Hutton from England on this one.
5
I'm with everyone else.
To call the Statue of Liberty nothing more than engineering and architecture strikes me as typically British cynicism. I just got back from southeast Asia where I saw hundreds of Buhdda statues in temples, on the streets, in stores and even in tuk-tuks. It seemed like overkill, but I eventually came to respect their deeper meaning by witnessing the devotion showered on them by natives and pilgrims alike. Don't take your liberty for granted.
21
I'm with Barry Hutton on this one.
5
"Still, one recent visitor, Barry Hutton, an engineer from Dorchester, England, scoffed at the idea that the statue was anything more than a great feat of engineering and architecture.
“'That is politicians,' he said. 'Instead of taking a bit of history, ‘What a nice statue,’ they will read things into it. People make up stories to get attention.'"
-------
Mr. Hutton doesn't seem to know anything about the statue or its significance. He needs to let his horizons broaden.
“'That is politicians,' he said. 'Instead of taking a bit of history, ‘What a nice statue,’ they will read things into it. People make up stories to get attention.'"
-------
Mr. Hutton doesn't seem to know anything about the statue or its significance. He needs to let his horizons broaden.
20
I'm glad people are thinking about the symbolism of the statue and of the United State's history of immigration. It's a topic that has long resonated with me, so much so that my husband and I made a short film about it when our 5 year-old became enamored with the Statue of Liberty. That was 10 years ago, when the Patriot Act was changing how the US was dealing with immigrants and refugees. The situation we find ourselves in today has been a long time coming. The short film is called "Notes on Liberty" and an be found here--https://vimeo.com/13117766
3
This is nothing more than another sob story. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated by the French as a monument to freedom and to the great spirit of bold engineering. Using is a symbol of uncontrolled immigration is a false equivalence.
10
The day of dedication of the Statue is the date of my birthday. So I have a long term interest in it's origin and meaning. The US and France have been allies since before the revolution. The French sent soldiers to the US for the war of independence.
Their influence made it possible for the Colonial Congress to grant pardons to the German prisoners of war that supported the British; which is why one half of my family tree is American.
The gift celebrates the enlightenment. The role of rationality in government which the Founding Fathers embraced as their cause.
Their influence made it possible for the Colonial Congress to grant pardons to the German prisoners of war that supported the British; which is why one half of my family tree is American.
The gift celebrates the enlightenment. The role of rationality in government which the Founding Fathers embraced as their cause.
4
Emma Lazarus' poem "The New Colossus", written to help raise funds for the construction of the statue's pedestal, is a part of the monument and it provides the de facto dedication of the statue. It also provides the best possible rebuttal to your short-sighted, exclusionary, fear of foreigners, especially fear of poor, hard-working foreigners of any origin or legal status.
Sorry, this isn't a VIP room for "Americans Only", despite the wish of the current President (despite his first wife and current wife both being born in the former Communist bloc of Central and Eastern Europe) and some (but not most) native-born Americans that it was.
Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus" (1883)
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Sorry, this isn't a VIP room for "Americans Only", despite the wish of the current President (despite his first wife and current wife both being born in the former Communist bloc of Central and Eastern Europe) and some (but not most) native-born Americans that it was.
Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus" (1883)
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
2
"The strangers who sojourn with you
shall be to you as the natives among you,
and you shall love them as yourself;
for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."
Leviticus 19:33-34
shall be to you as the natives among you,
and you shall love them as yourself;
for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."
Leviticus 19:33-34
13
Yeah, let's have national policy based on a book written two thousand years ago.
5
You don't even have the date right.
1
Ok, let's grant your theocratic wish and assume that Scripture should override the people's will as expressed in multiple laws passed by Congress and signed by Presidents Reagan (1986) and Clinton (1996).
Why does it follow that Scripture applies only to Mexican and Central American sojourners - but not to those from other nations - say, Korea or Ireland or Nigeria or Poland?
Would the party that favors this selective application of holy writ be so righteous if their particular favored nationalities showed a strong disposition, once legalized, to vote for the opposing party?
Methinks the only scripture that applies here is from the Book of Political Opportunism (aka "The Emerging Democratic Majority" strategy of Texeira and Judis).
Why does it follow that Scripture applies only to Mexican and Central American sojourners - but not to those from other nations - say, Korea or Ireland or Nigeria or Poland?
Would the party that favors this selective application of holy writ be so righteous if their particular favored nationalities showed a strong disposition, once legalized, to vote for the opposing party?
Methinks the only scripture that applies here is from the Book of Political Opportunism (aka "The Emerging Democratic Majority" strategy of Texeira and Judis).
3
Cover her with a dome, slather her with gaudy gold plating, and charge a Huuuge fee for a viewing. It's about time that immigrant earned her keep. Right, Donald???
6
My mother was born in NYC, after her parents immigrated from Austria. She's 87 now, lives on Long Island, and her neighbors for 10 years or more are from El Salvador. Or, they where neighbors. After Trump's first attempt at a travel band they disappeared. Back to El Salvador, she heard.
They were a family that cleaned my mom's yard when the leaves fell. Cleaned out the roof gutter, and shoveled her drive way when it snowed. Unasked, and for free. The men worked in construction, so over the years they painted her house, replaced the roofing, some bad siding and the large wood deck off the back of the house. All for the cost of material. All the labor for free.
Thanks to the kindness off her El Salvadorian neighbors, she's been able to stay in her house. Now she may have to move. Her only "help" now is from a man from Trinidad down the street, who only has a part time job. He brings her fresh vegetables grown in his garden, and food from the restaurant where he cooks.
She can always rely on her white neighbors for a friendly wave from their car as they speed by, but nothing more.
They were a family that cleaned my mom's yard when the leaves fell. Cleaned out the roof gutter, and shoveled her drive way when it snowed. Unasked, and for free. The men worked in construction, so over the years they painted her house, replaced the roofing, some bad siding and the large wood deck off the back of the house. All for the cost of material. All the labor for free.
Thanks to the kindness off her El Salvadorian neighbors, she's been able to stay in her house. Now she may have to move. Her only "help" now is from a man from Trinidad down the street, who only has a part time job. He brings her fresh vegetables grown in his garden, and food from the restaurant where he cooks.
She can always rely on her white neighbors for a friendly wave from their car as they speed by, but nothing more.
30
There is no polarizing debate. You are NOT entitled to come here if we said no. I we decided at some point in time that you could come here in the past that does not mean that the whole world is allowed to come here at any in the future.
8
We didn't say, "No", Cat. Some fearful few among us may say it, but most of the rest of us still believe in this country.
The statue is liberty enlightening the world not liberty inviting it. The entire world does not get to control our immigration policies. We do. The world is not entitled to sneak in here in violation of our immigration laws and then sanctimonious tell us how to respond.
8
We should re-engineer this engineering model to replace the beconing light with an outstrched, flat-of-the hand refusing entry.
up until way into the 20th century, American and wealthy elites were clamoring to bring all sorts of immigrants to our shores to populate our empmty land and creat consumers for their products.
It's immigrants that have made us rich and powerful not our native born blue-bloods. If allowed, tey will do that again as they have done before
up until way into the 20th century, American and wealthy elites were clamoring to bring all sorts of immigrants to our shores to populate our empmty land and creat consumers for their products.
It's immigrants that have made us rich and powerful not our native born blue-bloods. If allowed, tey will do that again as they have done before
1
@The cat....Our immigration laws NEED to be rewritten with a serious change to it's quota system !!! & you need an attitude adjustment and an early American history lesson (or more)! You ignore the facts of our murderous beginning,,,,sad.
When I got to Paris for the first time not that long ago, it took me by surprise to see a Statue of Liberty, as we cruised along the Seine. I had forgotten that a number had been cast and built. It did not move me in the same way that our Lady Liberty does, although this concrete symbol of the friendship between our two countries is important to me.
What does move me about the Statue is her constant presence, as a welcoming sponsor of refugees into our democracy. She is a reminder of what it is at heart to be an American. And she's a lady. If you cannot appreciate the statue because of that fact, it would be good to examine why.
I ride past the Statue probably a couple of times a month. I catch sight of her and watch while I can see her. At night, her light glows, the beacon that it is.
What does move me about the Statue is her constant presence, as a welcoming sponsor of refugees into our democracy. She is a reminder of what it is at heart to be an American. And she's a lady. If you cannot appreciate the statue because of that fact, it would be good to examine why.
I ride past the Statue probably a couple of times a month. I catch sight of her and watch while I can see her. At night, her light glows, the beacon that it is.
8
The Statue of Liberty in Paris is not one of a number "that had been cast", it is unique and given as a return gift. It is not the same proportion as the statue in New York and the inscription on the tablet is the date of the storming of the Bastille (7/14/1789) rather than 7/4/1776.
2
How many of us Americans would even be here if today's standards were applied to our immigrant grandparents & great-grandparents? Mine were Italian (a suspect 'mongrel' race in the early 1900s), illiterate, unskilled farmers. They came to the US for work - the tiny rocky plots of land available to peasants in Italy in 1904 couldn't support a family. They came as indentured servants to a plantation owner in Mississippi - yes, it was illegal, but it happened. They had to work as sharecroppers to pay back their passage. Five of their sons served in the armed forces in WWII and Korea, and grandchildren served in Vietnam. And unfortunately they've forgotten their own history and voted for trump. Lifeboat mentality - I'm safe but you're a threat.
17
And back then no one had a high school diploma. Times change. So should our immigration polices. We don't need illiterate peasants here now. We should have the right to say so.
7
reply to cat--- the grandchildren of illiterate peasants include America's Nobel Laureates in Medicine, enriching us all. In dramatic contrast, there are educated rich immigrants such as Murdoch who badly degrade America's culture--or, like the Facebook billionaire who became wealthy due to opportunities here, who leave after getting rich here to avoid taxes that would contribute to our country.
We continue to need --and should value-- immigrants who come here to devote themselves to hard work for themselves and their families---there is no need for smug people a few generations off the boat who would destroy the lives of others who come here to contribute their talents, hard work, and love of family to America.
We continue to need --and should value-- immigrants who come here to devote themselves to hard work for themselves and their families---there is no need for smug people a few generations off the boat who would destroy the lives of others who come here to contribute their talents, hard work, and love of family to America.
11
Interesting photo choice. Are those Canada Geese gathering to bring the statue up north, to the new land of welcoming immigrants and refugees?
6
I visited the Statue recently. And I visited Ellis Island also. Coming to America is not just about "Give us your poor, your huddled masses,
yearning to breathe free". It is also about obeying our laws, assimilating into our culture, and speaking our language. They are a matter of respect to America, and our values of welcoming and acceptance. My grandparents came to America from Russia in 1915. They saw the Statue, and were processed through Ellis Island. They obeyed the immigration laws, and had a sponsor who guaranteed them a job and housing. They were not a burden on the federal government, or taxpayers. They learned English, and assimilated. My grandmother became an American citizen. Allowing any immigrants to enter America illegally denigrates my grandparents hard work and willingness to play by the rules. It denigrates the hard work of the millions of immigrants who have waited their turn to come to America. It's that simple. What is about that simple concept that the proponents of illegal immigration cannot and will not understand and accept?
yearning to breathe free". It is also about obeying our laws, assimilating into our culture, and speaking our language. They are a matter of respect to America, and our values of welcoming and acceptance. My grandparents came to America from Russia in 1915. They saw the Statue, and were processed through Ellis Island. They obeyed the immigration laws, and had a sponsor who guaranteed them a job and housing. They were not a burden on the federal government, or taxpayers. They learned English, and assimilated. My grandmother became an American citizen. Allowing any immigrants to enter America illegally denigrates my grandparents hard work and willingness to play by the rules. It denigrates the hard work of the millions of immigrants who have waited their turn to come to America. It's that simple. What is about that simple concept that the proponents of illegal immigration cannot and will not understand and accept?
11
Exactly. Open borders policies are nothing more than upper class elitism.
5
What do you say about banning legal immigrants (those with visas and green cards)? Or yelling at people who were born in this country to legal immigrants to "go back to your country" or asking them "where are you REALLY from"?
1
There are only two options. Erase Ms Lazarus' stiring poety and replace it with "America First" or ship the statue to Canada which, by its extrodinary efforts to welcom Syrian refugees, has earned it. As it stands it is a rejection of Trumps vision for America and a biting shame for those of who reject that vision.
My grandfather, a German artist and having married a Jewish hieress saw that statue in 1909 when he first arrived in the US. In both World Wars, he was fully committed to the war effort of his adopted country and remained a proud American all his life. He, above all, would be ashamed today.
My grandfather, a German artist and having married a Jewish hieress saw that statue in 1909 when he first arrived in the US. In both World Wars, he was fully committed to the war effort of his adopted country and remained a proud American all his life. He, above all, would be ashamed today.
12
The Canadians have immigration laws. They may welcome a handful of so-called refugees but they do not welcome anyone else unless they meet certain requirements including linguistic fluency and a certain level of education.
7
Miss Lazarus's sonnet is not on the Statue. It is in the museum, in the base. In a museum, where it is given proper context and can be curated by historians.
4
"Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome."
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome."
8
Is that a Canada Goose heading north for its annual free medical checkup with no copay?
Seems to me our Republican-Oligarch Party wants to keep us tired, poor, and huddled masses sick and yearning for an unrealized freedom, the freedom from fear of medical bankruptcy.
Proving that Lady Liberty can be a symbol of freedom for every new era.
Seems to me our Republican-Oligarch Party wants to keep us tired, poor, and huddled masses sick and yearning for an unrealized freedom, the freedom from fear of medical bankruptcy.
Proving that Lady Liberty can be a symbol of freedom for every new era.
12
Sure, let's follow Canada's example in both health care and immigration policy - all for it.
Do you know how Canada treats foreign nationals who sneak into their country illegally or who overstay a visa? They forcibly deport such people. So does every other advanced democracy.
Canada also has educational requirements that immigrants must meet. Just as they have a sensible attitude toward health insurance, they have a sensible attitude toward immigration: prudent restrictions combined with swift, consistent, unbiased application of the immigration laws against those who violate them.
Do you know how Canada treats foreign nationals who sneak into their country illegally or who overstay a visa? They forcibly deport such people. So does every other advanced democracy.
Canada also has educational requirements that immigrants must meet. Just as they have a sensible attitude toward health insurance, they have a sensible attitude toward immigration: prudent restrictions combined with swift, consistent, unbiased application of the immigration laws against those who violate them.
3
Not having seen Lady Liberty I found it interesting that it's original purpose has been obscured or, more correctly, expanded to include the concept of welcoming immigrants. I see it as representing a challenge to the world to be brave enough to overcome the fear of those who are displaced and of other cultures and embrace the diversity.
Now we must block any effort to have it gold-plated and moved into the lobby of the Trump Dubai tower.
Now we must block any effort to have it gold-plated and moved into the lobby of the Trump Dubai tower.
3
We should give it to Canada - they actually welcome immigrants and refugees.
4
Not unless you meet certain requirements. They don't have open borders at all. Instead they have a point system that rewards educational levels and language fluency. Do go look it up before commenting.
7
Just as there is renewed attention to the Statue of Liberty, and the words written upon her, there is also renewed attention to the ending of the original Planet of the Apes movie.
I am sure people are thinking we are coming dangerously close to achieving the same fate, if we continue on this path. ( myself included )
I am sure people are thinking we are coming dangerously close to achieving the same fate, if we continue on this path. ( myself included )
3
There is nothing written on her, other than a plaque that says who she is and who made her. The sonnet is in the museum downstairs.
2
The quote on the base of the Statue of Liberty is about being open to immigration and freedom, not abandoning the legal framework for immigration or being the social safety net for the world.
7
At some point, we have to fix ourselves, our country.
We've given so much to the entire world for so long, it's time to pull back and rejuvenate our country. Help our people.
It's time for us.
We've given so much to the entire world for so long, it's time to pull back and rejuvenate our country. Help our people.
It's time for us.
4
This country is perfectly able to do both. We just need to remove the roadblock called Trump.
Lady Liberty should be covered with a black shroud.
An accompanying explanation should appear for all to see.
"The United States of America is no longer able to welcome all you that wish to come here to start a new life, free of fear, free to strive and free to worship in their own chosen way. A malaise has overcome the country. Hatred, bigotry and selfishness now dictate our state of affairs. It is unknown, at this time, if, or when this current situation will change."
An accompanying explanation should appear for all to see.
"The United States of America is no longer able to welcome all you that wish to come here to start a new life, free of fear, free to strive and free to worship in their own chosen way. A malaise has overcome the country. Hatred, bigotry and selfishness now dictate our state of affairs. It is unknown, at this time, if, or when this current situation will change."
8
'“It means freedom!” one of the girls shouted.'
Exactly, the Statue of Liberty stands for freedom, as exemplified by an untold number of American immigrants, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr. and millions of other American soldiers who died for the idea of American freedom.
But then along came the American right-wing, who worked furiously at dumbing down the American voter for decades and finally mounted a YUGELY successful 2016 'free-dumb' putsch that has replaced Lady Liberty's torch with a giant middle finger to the world.
"Give me your angry, your misinformed,
Your paranoid masses breathing white spite,
The wretched refuse of your Fake News and hate radio audience.
Send these, the heartless and propagandized to me,
I lift my lamp beside the dungeon door of Trumpian hate !"
RESIST the Republican right-wing tyranny that has hijacked America into Trump's crypto-fascist sewer of daily disgrace and embarrassment.
Vote in 2018, 2020 and for the rest of your days in record numbers to rid America of Trumpocalypse Now horror film.
Freedom, not 'free-dumb' !
Learn to spell, America.
Exactly, the Statue of Liberty stands for freedom, as exemplified by an untold number of American immigrants, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr. and millions of other American soldiers who died for the idea of American freedom.
But then along came the American right-wing, who worked furiously at dumbing down the American voter for decades and finally mounted a YUGELY successful 2016 'free-dumb' putsch that has replaced Lady Liberty's torch with a giant middle finger to the world.
"Give me your angry, your misinformed,
Your paranoid masses breathing white spite,
The wretched refuse of your Fake News and hate radio audience.
Send these, the heartless and propagandized to me,
I lift my lamp beside the dungeon door of Trumpian hate !"
RESIST the Republican right-wing tyranny that has hijacked America into Trump's crypto-fascist sewer of daily disgrace and embarrassment.
Vote in 2018, 2020 and for the rest of your days in record numbers to rid America of Trumpocalypse Now horror film.
Freedom, not 'free-dumb' !
Learn to spell, America.
27
This kind of contempt for your fellow Americans is why liberals lose elections.
{Galicia} in 1910. Per the Ellis Island website he boarded the ship Kaiser
Wilhelm der Grosse in Bremen, Germany {formerly Prussia}. He had just
completed his service in the Austrian Army. Poland at that time was divided
into three spheres of influence by Austria, Prussia and Russia. Upon being
discharged he returned to his father’s farm. Officers from the Austrian
Army made an attempt to reenlist him but tradition dictated that he could
remain at home so long as he was sorely needed on the farm. Immediately
after the officers departed Albert’s father gave him his brother’s travel
documents and instructed him to immigrate to the United States. His father
knew that war was coming and he didn’t want to lose his son to it. It took
me longer to locate my grandfather on the passenger list because I had
forgotten he was traveling under the name Jan and not Albert.