Vox Populi:

The Trump White House again demonstrated how out of touch their views are of America, as senior adviser Stephen Miller launched into a defense of harsh immigration policies by attacking the iconic Statue of Liberty.

Donald Trump’s White House defended its new anti-immigration policy Wednesday by attacking the iconic Statue of Liberty during the daily press conference, rejecting and denouncing the poem at its base welcoming immigrants to America.

Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller started the briefing to promote the restrictive anti-immigrant legislation proposed by Senate Republicans and promoted by Trump in a joint press appearance earlier in the day.

CNN reporter Jim Acosta asked Miller to reconcile the fact that the policy “does not sound like it’s in keeping with American tradition” of immigration.

ACOSTA: What you’re proposing, or what the president’s proposing, does not sound like it’s in keeping with American tradition when it comes to immigrant. The Statue of Liberty says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” It doesn’t say anything about speaking English or being a computer programmer. Aren’t you trying to change what it means to be an immigrant coming into this country if you’re telling them, “You have to speak English”? Can’t people learn how to speak English when they get here?

MILLER: Well, first of all, 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 actually very ahistorical. Secondly, I don’t want to get off into a whole thing about history here, but the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of liberty and light in the world. It’s a symbol of American liberty lighting the world. The poem that you’re referring to that was added later is not actually part of the original Statue of Liberty.

Standing at a lectern emblazoned with the seal of the United States presidency, Miller continued to refute the meaning of the poem attached to the base of the Statue of Liberty — “The New Colossus,” by Emma Lazarus.

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