This cartoon was drawn by Vincent Hudock, who last year was an eighth-grader at Sherman Oaks CES in Reseda, California. Here you see the Statue of Liberty, but she has an angry look on her face, and is holding a plaque that says, “Sorry, we don’t want any!”

Next to Lady Liberty are these words: “Give us your rich, your wealthy, your affluent few, yearning to pay taxes, that renounce the wretched refuse teeming at our shore. Others need not apply.” The cartoonist has changed the wording of an actual poem inscribed on the base of the statue: "Give me your tired, your poor,/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,/The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”

The cartoonist seems to be saying that while we are a nation of immigrants, who were once welcomed even if they were poor, today, many people do not want so many immigrants coming here, especially if they are poor. Do you agree with the cartoonist’s point? Why or why not? Do you live in an area where many new immigrants live? Do you think this is an effective cartoon?

Now take the quiz

Do you think our country has gotten too strict about letting in new immigrants? Or do you think it is not strict enough? Explain your answer.

 Did your ancestors come here because they were poor? What do you think your life would be like if your ancestors hadn’t come to the U.S.?

Click here to learn more about NewsCurrents’ Student Editorial Cartoon Contest.