Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) on Tuesday proposed a 10-year moratorium on immigration ― then suggested covering up the Statue of Liberty to block its immigrant-friendly message. “We gotta put a bed sheet ― a big bed sheet ― over the Statue of Liberty,” he told journalist Pablo Manríquez. “She’s gotta go to sleep for a while ’cuz we’re not letting anybody in anymore.” That’s the constitutional guarantee that children born in this country are automatically citizens. The ruling effectively blocks an executive order issued by President Donald Trump insisting otherwise. Nehls ― a staunch Trump ally who even wore a necktie with the president’s face all over it to the State of the Union speech earlier this year ― seemed to be offering a much more extreme alternative to that executive order.His proposal didn’t stop with a sheet over the Statue of Liberty’s head. “Instead of having a torch, maybe it needs a stop sign,” he suggested, miming the statue’s torch-hoisting arm. Critics on X could hardly believe it:Put a sheet on the Statue of LibertyMaybe cut out eye holes and burn a cross in front of it too while your at it https://t.co/gvSQlTRU7d— NYer in Florida (@JesseLaGreca) July 1, 2026