Artist Paints Giant Mural Of Statue Of Liberty Handcuffed By ICE

A Las Vegas artist who is an immigrant from the United Kingdom has painted a giant mural of the Statue of Liberty handcuffed and face down on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement car.

 

The artist, Izaac Zevalking, who also calls himself as "Recycled Propaganda," posted pictures of his artwork on July 29. He told KTNV, "My purpose of doing what I did with the Statue of Liberty is to try and draw analogies with America's past and how it was founded and how it was largely built by immigrants, to really make an analogy out of that so that people can apply that to contemporary society and contemporary issues a little bit more."

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A mural in downtown Las Vegas depicts the Statue of Liberty handcuffed on top of an I.C.E. patrol vehicle. The artist @recycledprop explains why he did it.

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1:43 AM - Aug 3, 2019

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Zevalking continued, "I want people just to think about the issue really. Wherever that thought leads you. Whatever that conversation with someone else leads you. I think it really needs to be discussed more in human terms."

Zevalking's website states that he apparently has issues with people speaking in fact-based terms; it asserts:

Known for his often gritty, always thought-provoking, and occasionally shock-inducing imagery, Recycled Propaganda utilizes original digital images conveyed through media ranging from large-scale murals to packs of stickers. All the imagery is crafted with the intent to “subvert the black and white – fear and fact-based rhetoric that we are so frequently plagued with, into a more eccentric and equivocal one that better reflects our reality.”

The Statue of Liberty was also discussed in a conversation Ken Cuccinelli, acting head of Citizenship and Immigration Services, had with National Public Radio. NPR's Rachel Martin asked Cuccinelli about the Trump Administration's implementation of a public charge rule for immigrants based on a 1996 bipartisan law passed by Congress.

When Martin stated that the rule would "negatively affect immigrants who've been using these public services legally," Cuccinelli responded, "It applies starting October 15. And the listed benefits will only be used in the analysis going forward after October 15. So people will not be surprised backwards in time."

Martin then opined that the new rule would "make it harder to get permanent legal status for anyone who, as you say, may become a public charge at any time in the future.” Cuccinelli agreed, pointing out that the “determination of the potential to be a public charge any time in the future is from Congress. We didn't come up with this. Congress imposed this."

Cuccinelli asserted that any immigrants who came to the United States and could "stand on their own two feet, be self-sufficient, pull themselves up by their bootstraps," were welcome, prompting Martin to reply, "Would you also agree that Emma Lazarus' words etched on the Statue of Liberty — give me your tired, your poor — are also part of the American ethos?"

Cuccinelli amended Lazarus' words, stating, "They certainly are — give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge. That plaque was put on the Statue of Liberty at almost the same time as the first public charge law was passed — very interesting timing."