The real meaning of the Statue of Liberty

BBC news item this morning:

The woman who climbed up on the Statue of Liberty and sat on the monument's base is in detention, police say.
Tourists were evacuated from Liberty Island in New York Harbour on Wednesday during a three-hour stand-off with local and federal authorities.

Cynthia Malone@cynth_malone

Radical scientist concerned with wildlife, ecosystems, and Black liberation. Gryffindor.

Today, Therese Patricia Okoumou, a Congolese immigrant, scaled the Statue of Liberty and said she would not be moved until all the children detained from ICE were released. “We who believe in freedom cannot rest.” Ella taught us. #AbolishICE

David Goldman, 'Spengler' in Asia Times David Goldman, 

3 August 2017

"In 1883, when Emma Lazarus wrote her sonnet 'The New Colossus,' America had open immigration. Millions of white European immigrants settled the American heartland, and we drove out the Native Americans to make room for them. In other words, we gave privileges to white people and killed or displaced people of color. You can argue the merits of this policy, but we don't want to return to a situation in which immigration occurs at the expense of people who were here first."

Four years before the Statue of Liberty was erected, in four months in 1886, the Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 was signed by President Chester Arthur, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese labourers.

The Immigration Restriction Act 1924 completely excluded Asian immigrants and strictly limited Eastern Europeans. One impetus for the Act was fear of Jewish Communist immigrants. Italian immigrants were also considered 'dysgenic'.