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Days after announcing a new policy to keep welfare recipients from acquiring green cards, a Trump administration official raised eyebrows by claiming the poem on the Statue of Liberty refers to Europeans only.

On Tuesday, Ken Cuccinelli, Trump’s top immigration official, told NPR that Emma Lazarus’ famous poem, “The New Colossus,” refers to “people coming from Europe.” The poem famously states, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Cuccinelli said poor immigrants are welcome in America, as long as they are not dependent on public assistance.

“Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge,” Cuccinelli said.

The Trump administration’s new rules would restrict immigration visas for people who receive any type of government assistance, such as food stamps or Medicaid, have a low level of education, or whose immigration sponsor is “unlikely” to provide proper financial support.

Democratic presidential candidate attacked Cuccinelli’s comments, calling the Trump administration racist.

“This administration finally admitted what we’ve known all along: They think the Statue of Liberty only applies to white people,” O’Rourke tweeted.