First lady Melania Trump’s parents have received their green cards and are close to becoming citizens — raising questions about whether they benefited from “chain migration,” according to a report.
“I can confirm that Mrs. Trump’s parents are both lawfully admitted to the United States as permanent residents,” Michael Wildes, a New York-based immigration attorney who represents the first lady and her family, told the Washington Post.
“The family, as they are not part of the administration, has asked that their privacy be respected so I will not comment further on this matter,” he added.
Wildes declined to say how or when Viktor and Amalija Knavs, formerly of Slovenia, received their green cards.
The Knavses are waiting to schedule their swearing-in ceremony, a person with knowledge of their immigration filings told the newspaper.
Immigration experts said the couple very likely relied on a family reunification process that President Trump has labeled “chain migration” and wants to end.
Questions about the couple’s immigration status have escalated ever since Trump espoused an anti-immigrant agenda during and after his race for the White House.
A White House spokesman and a spokeswoman for the first lady declined to comment to the Washington Post.
Melania’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham previously told the paper: “I don’t comment on her parents, as they live private lives and are not part of the administration.”
Trump has proposed ending the ability of US citizens to sponsor their parents and siblings — suggesting that only spouses and minor children could be sponsored for legal residency.
On Feb. 6, he tweeted: “We need a 21st Century MERIT-BASED immigration system. Chain migration and the visa lottery are outdated programs that hurt our economic and national security.”
But immigration experts told the paper that Trump’s in-laws most likely relied on the very path he has derided and condemned to obtain residency that allows them to live in the US.
“That would be the logical way to do it, the preferred way to do it and possibly the only way to do it under the facts that I know,” immigration lawyer David Leopold told the paper.
Viktor Knavs, 73, is a former member of the Yugoslav Communist Party who worked as a chauffeur and car salesman in Slovenia. Amalija, 71, was a pattern maker at a textile factory.
Several years ago, their attorneys contacted Sen. Charles Schumer’s office for assistance in checking on the status of their petition for green cards, a source familiar with the outreach told the paper
Melania Trump came to the US from Slovenia on a visitor’s visa in 1996 for modeling gigs.
She sponsored herself for a green card in 2000 based on her “extraordinary ability” and obtained permanent residency in 2001. She married Trump in 2005 and became a citizen the following year.
Last week, the Senate rejected a bipartisan proposal spearheaded by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that would have paved the way to citizenship for nearly 2 million undocumented immigrants who came to the US illegally as children.
Legislation backed by the president to grant a path to citizenship to the so-called Dreamers — but also end chain migration and the visa lottery — also failed.