Stephen Miller disavows Statue of Liberty poem in defending administration's immigration policy


After sparring with The New York Times' Glenn Thrush on Wednesday, President Trump's senior policy adviser Stephen Miller engaged in a second heated debate during the daily press briefing. Miller's second scuffle was with CNN's Jim Acosta and centered on the history of the Statue of Liberty.
Miller was at the briefing to discuss the Trump administration's newly announced merit-based immigration system, which Acosta accused of contradicting the American tradition of welcoming immigrants. "The Statue of Liberty says, 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free,'" Acosta said. "It doesn't say anything about speaking English or being able to be a computer programmer."
"Well, first of all," Miller began, "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 the 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 enlightening the world … The poem that you're referring to was added later, it's not actually part of the original Statue of Liberty."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Despite Miller's best efforts, however the pair then immediately got into a "whole thing about history."
"You're saying ["The New Colossus" poem] does not represent what the country has always thought of as immigration?" Acosta asked. "I'm sorry, that sounds like some national park revisionism."
The debate hardly ended there. Watch the entire heated exchange below. Jeva Lange
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Is Trump sidelining Congress' war powers?
Today's Big Question The Iran attack renews a long-running debate
-
6 productivity-ready homes with great offices
Feature Featuring an office with a gas fireplace in Oregon and a shared workspace with wraparound windows in Massachusetts
-
How quarterly estimated tax payments work and when they are due
The Explainer Freelancers, small business owners and those with a side hustle may need to make more frequent tax payments
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from
-
Judges order release of 2 high-profile migrants
Speed Read Kilmar Ábrego García is back in the US and Mahmoud Khalil is allowed to go home — for now
-
US assessing bomb damage to Iran nuclear sites
Speed Read Trump claims this weekend's US bombing obliterated Tehran's nuclear program, while JD Vance insists the US is 'not at war with Iran'
-
Trump's LA deployment in limbo after court rulings
Speed Read Judge Breyer ruled that Trump's National Guard deployment to Los Angeles was an 'illegal' overreach. But a federal appellate court halted the ruling.
-
Marines, National Guard in LA can detain Americans
speed read The troops have been authorized to detain anyone who interferes with immigration raids
-
Trump vows 'very big force' against parade protesters
Speed Read The parade, which will shut down much of the capital, will celebrate the US Army's 250th anniversary and Trump's 79th birthday