Florida Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost has called for the removal of the Statue of Liberty in a speech addressing illegal immigration and asylum outside of the nation's capital. According to Rep. Frost, taking down the New York landmark is justified to protest HR 2, a comprehensive border security bill. Frost calls the bill “bigoted legislation.”
When speaking about New York City’s Statue of Liberty, Frost said, “One of the biggest symbols of freedom, one of the biggest symbols of the right to asylum is the Statue of Liberty. Tear it down. Take it down.”
Our country has told and advertised to refugees that this is the place to come to. If my Republican Colleagues want to push bigoted immigration legislation to harm the right of asylum, they should file a bill to tear down the Statue of Liberty so we stop lying to the world. pic.twitter.com/ijUjSLEaZa
— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) January 18, 2024
On top of proposing to get rid of the Statue of Liberty, Frost publicly announced that he and other lawmakers are telling migrants to come to America.
“To my Republican colleagues… immigrants don’t just want to come here, we are telling them to come here," the 27-year-old Democrat said during a asylum press conference on Capitol Hill.
According to Frost, there is no such thing as an illegal alien.
They’re not aliens. They’re not invading us. They’re America,” he described. The Florida lawmaker even went as far as to say that a migrant becomes an American the moment they get to the United States. When talking about going to citizenship ceremonies, Frost mentioned that one of his favorite things to do is tell people,“Today you’re not becoming an American. You’re becoming a citizen because you became an American the day you got here.”
Many Republicans have called out Frost for his claims. Rep. Aaron Bean told The Floridian, "That's not how that work," in response to Frost's claims regarding the border.
Frost ended his statement by calling Republicans liars. “Let’s stop lying to the entire globe. If you’re gonna be for gutting this system that is the bedrock and foundation of this country then at least don’t be a damn liar,” the congressman added.
Democrat Maxwell Frost wrote a resolution to remove the Statue of Liberty because Republicans want to shut down the border. pic.twitter.com/KOYmhyniHM
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) January 17, 2024
Frost is the first member of Gen Z to be elected to Congress, as he represents Flordia’s 10th district in the United States House of Representatives.
