AP PHOTOS: Lady Liberty as a symbol of immigration to the US

The Statue of Liberty is at the center of a national debate on immigration after a top Trump administration official offered the president's own interpretation of the famous inscription that has welcomed immigrants to the United States for more than a century.

The acting director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli, who is an immigration hardliner, said Tuesday that the poem by Emma Lazarus referred to "people coming from Europe" and that America is looking to receive migrants "who can stand on their own two feet."

Lazarus' poem, written in 1883 to raise money to construct the Statue of Liberty's pedestal, was cast in bronze beneath the monument in 1903. The statue and the poem's words have served as a beacon to millions of immigrants as they first entered the nation in New York Harbor. It reads: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore."

FILE - In this June 2, 2009, file photo, the Statue of Liberty stands in New York harbor. (AP PhotoRichard Drew, File)

Cuccinelli's comments came as Democrats and immigrant-rights groups blasted a new Trump administration policy that could deny green cards to migrants who seek public assistance, saying the changes would scare immigrants away from asking for needed help.

President Donald Trump has spoken disparagingly about immigration from majority black and Hispanic countries, including calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals when he launched his 2016 campaign. Last year, he privately referred to Central American and African nations as "shithole" countries and suggested the U.S. take in more immigrants from European countries such as predominantly white Norway.

FILE - In this Nov. 14, 1995, file photo, Sonja Kuhnelt of Germany peers out a ferry window at the Statue of Liberty as a small group of visitors wait on the dock to board the vessel. (AP PhotoAdam Nadel, File)

FILE - In this July 29, 2010, file photo, with the Statue of Liberty behind them, a coalition of immigrant groups and their supporters march across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. (AP PhotoSeth Wenig, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 13, 2013, file photo, the Statue of Liberty looms over a visitor as he uses binoculars to look out onto New York Harbor in New York. (AP PhotoJohn Minchillo, File)

FILE - In this June 29, 1954, file photo, the Statue of Liberty stands in New York Harbor as the ocean liner Queen Mary goes past as seen from a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter. (AP PhotoFile)

FILE - In this undated file photo, a group of immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island in New York wait in line to begin immigration proceedings. Ellis Island, the former immigration inspection station, is adjacent to the Statue of Liberty. (AP PhotoFile)

FILE - In this Oct. 28, 1956, file photo, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Roerich from Bavaria, Germany, look out from the stern of the USNS General Langfitt anchored in New York Harbor carrying over a 1,000 refugees from Europe. In the background is the Statue of Liberty. The couple planned to settle in Ohio. (AP PhotoFile)

FILE - This Oct. 7, 2014, file photo, shows the Statue of Liberty during a visit by President Barack Obama, in New York. (AP PhotoEvan Vucci, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 17, 1985, file photo, workers remove scaffolding from the Statue of Liberty, in New York. (AP PhotoMario Cabrera, File)

FILE - In this July 31, 2015, file photo, a blue moon rises behind the torch of the Statue of Liberty seen from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, N.J. A blue moon happens when the moon rises in its full stage twice during the same month. (AP PhotoJulio Cortez, File)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s parliament on Tuesday approved a measure that criminalizes a broad range of activities that can hinder navigation and commerce in the South American country, such as the seizure of oil tankers.

The bill — introduced, debated and approved within two days in the National Assembly — follows this month's seizures by U.S. forces of two tankers carrying Venezuelan oil in international waters. The seizures are the latest strategy in U.S. President Donald Trump's four-month pressure campaign on Venezuela's leader Nicolás Maduro.

The tankers are part of what the Trump administration has said is a fleet Venezuela uses to evade U.S. economic sanctions.

The unicameral assembly, which is controlled by Venezuela's ruling party, did not publish drafts on Tuesday nor the final version of the measure. But as read on the floor, the bill calls for fines and prison sentences of up to 20 years for anyone who promotes, requests, supports, finances or participates in “acts of piracy, blockades or other international illegal acts” against commercial entities operating with the South American country.

Venezuela's political opposition, including Nobel Peace laureate María Corina Machado, has expressed support for Trump's Venezuela policy, including the seizure of tankers. Machado and Trump have both repeatedly said that Maduro's days in power are numbered.

The bill, which now awaits Maduro’s signature, also instructs the executive branch to come up with “incentives and mechanisms for economic, commercial and other protections” for national or foreign entities doing business with Venezuela in the event of piracy activities, a maritime blockade or other unlawful acts.

The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday seized a Panama-flagged vessel called Centuries that officials said was part of the fleet moving sanctioned cargo. With assistance from the U.S. Navy, it seized a rogue tanker called Skipper on Dec. 10. That ship was registered in Panama.

Trump, after that first seizure, said the U.S. would carry out a “blockade” of Venezuela. He later demanded that Venezuela return assets that it seized from U.S. oil companies years ago, justifying anew his announcement of the blockade against sanctioned oil tankers traveling to or from the South American country.

At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by Venezuela, U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz on Tuesday stressed that sanctioned oil tankers “operate as the primary economic lifeline for Maduro and his illegitimate regime.”

“Maduro’s ability to sell Venezuela’s oil enables his fraudulent claim to power and his narco-terrorist activities,” Waltz said. “The United States will impose and enforce sanctions to the maximum extent to deprive Maduro of the resources he uses to fund Cartel de los Soles.”

Maduro was indicted in 2020 on narcoterrorism charges in the U.S. and accused of leading the Cartel de los Soles, which the Trump administration designated as a foreign terrorist organization last month. But the entity is not a cartel per se.

Venezuelans began using the term Cartel de los Soles in the 1990s to refer to high-ranking military officers who had grown rich from drug-running. As corruption expanded nationwide, its use loosely expanded to police and government officials as well as activities like illegal mining and fuel trafficking.

At Tuesday's meeting, Venezuela’s U.N. Ambassador Samuel Moncada accused the U.S. of acting “outside international law” and its own domestic laws, by demanding that Venezuelans vacate the country and hand it over to the Trump administration, including all its oil fields.

“What right does the United States government have to appropriate, to date, almost 4 million barrels of Venezuelan oil?” Moncada asked, referring to the cargo of the two seized tankers. “This alleged naval blockade is essentially a military act aimed at laying siege to the Venezuelan nation, degrading its economic and military apparatus, weakening its social and political cohesion, and causing internal chaos to facilitate aggression by external forces.”

Many countries expressed concern about violations of international maritime law and adhering to the United Nations Charter, which requires all 193 member nations to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every other country. The United States’ actions were supported by a few countries, including Panama and Argentina.

Associated Press writer Edith Lederer in New York contributed to this report.

Lawmaker Giuseppe Alessandrello gives a speech during an extraordinary session at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Evana, an oil tanker, is docked at El Palito port in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)