STATUE OF LIBERTY

What does the STATUE OF LIBERTY represent or mean to you? Between 1886 and 1924 almost 14 million immigrants entered USA through New York. The Statue of Liberty was a reassuring sign that they (mostly Europeans) had arrived in the land of their dreams. To these anxious immigrants, the Statue of liberty became a symbol of hope to generations of immigrants. War tensions in the twentieth century reinforced this connection and the Statue in the harbor became an icon of the United States as a refuge for the poor and persecuted of Europe, and as a place of unlimited opportunity. Seems a little twisted now how refugee's are being treated in the 21st century, given the simple fact that the entire country (minus the native american Indians) are all loosely "immigrants" themselves or at least with descendants and ancestors in many European, Asian, and south american counties... what does the statue of liberty represent today, for you?