Activists Placed A ‘Refugees Welcome’ Banner On The Statue Of Liberty In Defiance Of Trump’s Travel Ban

Visitors to the Statue of Liberty were greeted by a new sign on Tuesday. Activists in New York unfurled a large banner across the base of the iconic memorial reading “refugees welcome” in response to President Trump’s travel ban. The banner comes on the day that the Trump administration hinted at the future plans for the controversial executive order, claiming that the administration’s next attempt would “have the same basic policy outcome.”

According to Fusion, the sign was a direct response to Trump’s initial travel ban that sparked protests at several major airports across the nation a few weeks back. As one of the protestors tells Fusion, the plan moved from there:

“This was first conceived in response to what’s been called the ‘travel ban’ of the Trump administration, which I think flies in the face of the founding principals of the United States,” he told to me over the phone.

“I think the Statue of Liberty is our best symbol of the role that immigrants have played and continue to play every day in this country,” he added later…

“We left, and as we were taking the ferry home, [the banner] was still hanging,” He explained. “I would imagine that the National Park Service staffers who also make this country great who are working there—I would be surprised if anyone who cares about the history of the Statue of Liberty did not agree with what we were saying.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQyMoVTgOsN/?taken-by=jacquelyn.wang

This is just the latest act of protest to face the Trump administration since taking office one month ago. Thousands have taken to the streets in protests across the globe and others like Greenpeace have used their own signs to send a message to the president. Much like that “Resist” signage, the message for the Liberty protestors is simple:

“Muslims are welcome here, and refugees are welcome here, and the immigrant communities that are facing deportation raids are also welcome here,”