Audio: Cuccinelli Wants to Change Statue of Liberty Plaque to Read, “Give me your tired and your poor…who will not become a public charge”

No, this isn’t “The Onion.” Sadly, pathetically, this is the nightmarish alternate timeline we currently inhabit – one in which the same guy who compared immigrant families to “rats”; who claimed (falsely) that we’re being “invaded”; who ranted that  “you don’t have to keep them, no catch-and-release, no nothing. You just point them back across the river and let them swim for it”; who denies climate science; etc.  – is acting US Citizenship and Immigration Services director in the friggin’ Trump administration. Yes, this is wayyyy beyond satire.

P.S. I saw a comment on Facebook that really nailed it: “What does it say about our present moment that Cuccinelli feels comfortable saying something so cartoonishly heartless—not to mention ignorant of the proven positive impact of immigrants of all kinds—out loud?”

P.P.S. Also see ThinkProgress’ take: “Trump official accidentally implies that politicians like Ted Cruz have no right to US citizenship”

It’s exhausting to see and feel the hate for immigrants from this administration. The viciousness of these people is just really tiring. https://t.co/rxrLbvaRlm

— Soledad O’Brien (@soledadobrien) August 13, 2019