Statue of Liberty Guide Denounces Deportations on $396 Tour as Trump Crackdown Fuels Her Outburst
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 7
Statue of Liberty Guide Denounces Deportations on $396 Tour as Trump Crackdown Fuels Her Outburst
2 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 7
Summary
Liberty Island guide Isabelle Garbani broke from her usual script during an October tour, telling visitors that legal residents were being deported and that ICE was seizing people at courthouses.
Her outburst followed months of anger over Trump’s renewed immigration crackdown, which she linked to warrantless raids, wrongful detentions and a shooting of a Dominican man a day earlier near New York.
The immediate audience was a San Diego family led by 30-year-old DACA recipient Carina Espinoza, who said they were “pro-immigrant” and privately welcomed Garbani’s candor as a rare safe space.
Garbani, 59, has spent 7 years guiding visitors through the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island for $396 tours, framing the landmarks as symbols of an America now at odds with its treatment of immigrants.
Nine days later, the rant had no visible business cost: Carina posted Garbani’s 55th straight five-star review, underscoring how immigration tensions now reach even routine tourist visits.