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)

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Historical document appraiser and collector Seth Kaller spreads a broad sheet of paper across a desk. It's in good enough condition that he can handle it, carefully, with clean, bare hands. There are just a few creases and tiny discolorations, even though it's just a few weeks shy of 237 years old and has spent who knows how long inside a filing cabinet in North Carolina.

At the top of the first page are familiar words but in regular type instead of the sweeping Gothic script we're used to seeing: “WE, the People ..."

And the people will get a chance to bid for this copy of the U.S. Constitution — the only of its type thought to be in private hands — at a sale by Brunk Auctions on Sept. 28 in Asheville, North Carolina.

The minimum bid for the auction of $1 million has already been made. There is no minimum price that must be reached.

This copy was printed after the Constitutional Convention finished drafting the proposed framework of the nation's government in 1787 and sent it to the Congress of the ineffective first American government under the Articles of Confederation, requesting they send it to the states to be ratified by the people.

It's one of about 100 copies printed by the secretary of that Congress, Charles Thomson. Just eight are known to still exist and the other seven are publicly owned.

Thomson likely signed two copies for each of the original 13 states, essentially certifying them. They were sent to special ratifying conventions, where representatives, all white and male, wrangled for months before accepting the structure of the United States government that continues today.

“This is the point of connection between the government and the people. The Preamble — ‘we the people' — this is the moment the government is asking the people to empower them,” auctioneer Andrew Brunk said.

What happened to the document up for auction between Thomson's signature and 2022 isn't known.

Two years ago, a property was being cleared out in Edenton in eastern North Carolina that was once owned by Samuel Johnston. He was the governor of North Carolina from 1787 to 1789 and he oversaw the state convention during his last year in office that ratified the Constitution.

The copy was found inside a squat, two-drawer metal filing cabinet with a can of stain on top, in a long-neglected room piled high with old chairs and a dusty book case, before the old Johnston house was preserved. The document was a broad sheet that could be folded one time like a book.

“I get calls every week from people who think they have a Declaration of Independence or a Gettysburg Address and most of the time it is just a replica, but every so often something important gets found,” said Kaller, who appraises, buys and sells historic documents.

“This is a whole other level of importance,” he added.

Along with the Constitution on the broad sheet printed front and back is a letter from George Washington asking for ratification. He acknowledged there will have to be compromise and that rights the states enjoyed will have to be given up for the nation's long-term health.

“To secure all rights of independent sovereignty to each and yet provide for the interest and safety for all — individuals entering into society must give up a share of liberty to preserve the rest,” wrote the man who would become the first U.S. president.

Brunk isn't sure what the document might go for because there is so little to compare it to. The last time a copy of the Constitution like this sold was for $400 in 1891. In 2021, Sotheby's of New York sold one of only 14 remaining copies of the Constitution printed for the Continental Congress and delegates to the Constitutional Convention for $43.2 million, a record for a book or document.

But that document was meant to be distributed to the Founding Fathers as delegates to the Constitutional Convention. The signed copy being sold later this month was one meant to be sent to leaders in every state so people all around the country could review and decide if that’s how they wanted to be governed, connecting the writers of the Constitution to the people in the states who would provide its power and legitimacy.

The auction listing doesn't identify the seller, saying its part of a collection that is in private hands.

Other items up for auction in Asheville including a 1776 first draft of the Articles of Confederation and a 1788 Journal of the Convention of North Carolina at Hillsborough where representatives spent two weeks debating if ratifying the Constitution would put too much power with the nation instead of the states.

CORRECTS NAME TO BRUNK AUCTIONS - An 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28, 2024 is shown at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C., on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

CORRECTS NAME TO BRUNK AUCTIONS -Auctioneer Andrew Brunk talks about a 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28, 2024 at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C., on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

CORRECTS NAME TO BRUNK AUCTIONS - Auctioneer Andrew Brunk, left, and historian Seth Kaller, right show off a 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28, 2024 at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C., on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

A 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28 at Bruck Auctions in Asheville, N.C., is seen in this photo. (Brunk Auctions via AP)

CORRECTS NAME TO BRUNK AUCTIONS - An 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28, 2024, is shown at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, North Carolina, on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

CORRECTS NAME TO BRUNK AUCTIONS - Historian Seth Kaller shows off a 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28, 2024 at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C., on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

A 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28 at Bruck Auctions in Asheville, North Carolina, was found inside this filing cabinet in Edenton, N.C. (Brunk Auctions via AP)

CORRECTS NAME TO BRUNK AUCTIONS - Part of an 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28, 2024 is shown at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, North Carolina, on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)