--- title: Statue of Liberty: White House Argues It's Unrepresentative description: Stephen Miller argued that the poem inscribed on the State of Liberty doesn't necessarily encapsulate the country's values on this issue. canonical: https://time.com/4884808/stephen-miller-immigration-policy-jim-acosta/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-02T20:40:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:11.143Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House: Statue of Liberty Doesn't Represent U.S. Immigration Policy og:description: "The poem that you're referring to was added later." og:url: https://time.com/4884808/stephen-miller-immigration-policy-jim-acosta/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte88d07fb91f4aefb/6988d834fb4eacff2d8932af/gettyimages-825654492.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Senior Advisor to the President for Policy Stephen Miller talks to reporters about President Donald Trump's support for creating a 'merit-based immigration system' in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House August 2, 2017 in Washington, DC og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House: Statue of Liberty Doesn't Represent U.S. Immigration Policy twitter:description: "The poem that you're referring to was added later." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte88d07fb91f4aefb/6988d834fb4eacff2d8932af/gettyimages-825654492.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House: Statue of Liberty Doesn't Represent U.S. Immigration Policy > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=16b46f4f-60a4-40cb-9fe4-c8cb957fa916&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Outlines Plan to Curb Legal Immigration [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Outlines Plan to Curb Legal Immigration](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CPZ5oWhd.m3u8) (2:32)  _Published 2017-08-02. Trump Outlines Plan to Curb Legal Immigration_  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Aug 2, 2017 8:40 PM UTC  Senior Advisor to the President for Policy Stephen Miller talks to reporters about President Donald Trump's support for creating a 'merit-based immigration system' in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House August 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. Senior Advisor to the President for Policy Stephen Miller talks to reporters about President Donald Trump's support for creating a 'merit-based immigration system' in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House August 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Aug 2, 2017 8:40 PM UTC A key White House aide staunchly defended the immigration reform bill backed by the White House Wednesday, at one point arguing that the poem inscribed on the State of Liberty doesn’t encapsulate the country’s values on this issue. President Trump announced his support on Wednesday for the [RAISE act,](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/08/02/president-donald-j-trump-backs-raise-act) also known as “Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act.” The bill would rework the immigration system to prioritize English speakers and limit the entry of low-skilled workers to the country. But in order to become law, it would need to be passed by the Senate, where it faces an uphill battle. During the daily White House briefing, White House aide Stephen Miller was asked how the immigration bill would square with the Emma Lazarus poem on the Statue of Liberty which asks for “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” “The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of liberty enlightening the world,” Miller said. “The poem that you’re referring to was added later, it’s not actually part of the original Statue of Liberty.” The poem was [engraved on the pedestal](https://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/historyculture/upload/new%20colossus%20for%20displaypage2.pdf) of the Statue of Liberty in 1903, seventeen years after the statue’s dedication. Miller also clashed with CNN reporter Jim Acosta, the [son of Cuban immigrants](http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/20/politics/obama-cuba-us-relations-journey/index.html), arguing that his questions revealed a “cosmopolitan bias” and calling one comment “one of the most outrageous, insulting, ignorant and foolish things you’ve ever said.” ## Transcript The Raise Act, R- A- I- S- E. The Raise Act will reduce poverty, increase wages, and save taxpayers billions, and billions of dollars. It will do this by changing the way the United States issues green cards. To nationals from other countries. Green card provide permanent presidency, work authorization, and fast track to citizenship. For decades, United States was operated and has operated a very low skilled immigration system. Issuing record number of green cards to low wage immigrants This policy has placed substantial pressure on American workers, tax payers, and community resources. Among those hit the hardest in recent years have been immigrants, and very importantly minority workers competing for jobs against brand new arrivals. And it has not been fair. To our people, to our citizens, to our workers. The RAISE Act ends chain migration and replaces our low skill system with a new points based system for receiving a green card. This competitive application process will favor applicants who can speak English. Financially support themselves, and their families, and demonstrate skills that will contribute to our economy. The Raise Act prevents new migrants and new immigrants from collecting welfare, and protects US workers from being displaced. and that's a very big thing, they're not going to come in and just immediately go and collect welfare. That doesn't happen under the Reyes act. They can't do that. Crucially the green card reforms in the Reyes act will give American workers a pay raise by reducing unskilled immigration. This legislation will not only restore our competitive edge in the 21st century, but it will restore the sacred bonds of trust between America and its citizens. This legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families who deserve an immigration system that puts Their needs first and that puts America first. Finally, the reforms in the RAISE Act will help ensure that newcomers to our wonderful country will be assimilated, will succeed and will achieve the American dream. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4884808/stephen-miller-immigration-policy-jim-acosta/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4884808/stephen-miller-immigration-policy-jim-acosta/"},"headline":"White House: Statue of Liberty Doesn't Represent U.S. Immigration Policy","datePublished":"2017-08-02T20:40:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:11.143Z","description":"\"The poem that you're referring to was added later\"","url":"https://time.com/4884808/stephen-miller-immigration-policy-jim-acosta/","keywords":["White House","Immigration","statue of liberty","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte88d07fb91f4aefb/6988d834fb4eacff2d8932af/gettyimages-825654492.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte88d07fb91f4aefb/6988d834fb4eacff2d8932af/gettyimages-825654492.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senior Advisor to the President for Policy Stephen Miller talks to reporters about President Donald Trump's support for creating a 'merit-based immigration system' in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House August 2, 2017 in Washington, DC","caption":"Senior Advisor to the President for Policy Stephen Miller talks to reporters about President Donald Trump's support for creating a 'merit-based immigration system' in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House August 2, 2017 in Washington, DC","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4884808/stephen-miller-immigration-policy-jim-acosta/","name":"White House: Statue of Liberty Doesn't Represent U.S. Immigration Policy"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump Outlines Plan to Curb Legal Immigration","description":"Trump Outlines Plan to Curb Legal Immigration","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/CPZ5oWhd/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-08-02T17:22:14.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CPZ5oWhd.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4884808/stephen-miller-immigration-policy-jim-acosta/","duration":"PT2M32S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4884808/stephen-miller-immigration-policy-jim-acosta/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```