Activists for untrammeled entrance into the U.S. by Muslim “refugees” affixed a banner reading “Refugees Welcome” to the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty Tuesday.
The U.S. National Park Service told reporters that the banner appeared at about 1:00 p.m. Park Rangers manning the Statue of Liberty removed the banner about an hour later after it was determined that removing the illegally placed sign would not harm the pedestal, NBC News reported.
Officials reported that the banner, measuring three feet by twenty feet, was attached to the public observation deck with a nylon rope.
A group running a social media account named “Alt Statue of Liberty” took credit for the stunt and told the media that they aren’t affiliated with any larger organization.
A representative for this social media account told NBC, “We wanted to send a reminder about America when we’re at our best — the country that’s a beacon of freedom to the world, built by immigrants. Walling off countries or entire religions is against our values.”
Another representative, who called himself “David,” essentially told Fusion.com that he is for entirely open borders and an end to immigration laws.
“Muslims are welcome here, and refugees are welcome here, and the immigrant communities that are facing deportation raids are also welcome here,” he said.
“David” also told Fusion.com that the illegal display was in response to President Trump’s “travel ban.”
The president’s January 27 Executive Order, to which the group was referring, did not “ban” travel but put a temporary moratorium on travel from a list of seven terror-torn countries flagged by the Obama administration.
While the group that placed the banner seems to assume that Trump is the only president who has issued such an order, in fact, both Presidents Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama ordered temporary bans on immigration from several Muslim majority countries during their presidencies.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.