With Donald Trump’s war against undocumented immigrants in mind, people are now questioning the legitimacy of his immigrant wife’s infantile years in America.
The source of said inquiries can be traced back to recently published nude photos of Melania Trump which point to a few inconsistencies with the model’s immigration status upon her arrival in the States.
Politico detailed the conflicting facts in a Thursday article, mentioning that while Trump claims she came to New York in 1996, the nude photographs were shot in ’95 in Manhattan. Moreover, according to her own statements, she came to the U.S. through a short-term visa—a visa which wouldn’t have permitted her to work as a model.
The discrepancies don’t stop there, however, as the publication also compares the couple’s claim that Melania flew back to Europe every few months to renew her visa prior to her obtaining a green card with her previous assertion that she had an H-1B visa.
“An H-1B visa can be valid for three years and can be extended up to six years—sometimes longer—and would not require renewals in Europe every few months,” journalists Ben Schreckinger and Gabriel Debenedetti wrote.
If she were to travel here with said visa, her renewal story would align with that of someone with a B-1 Temporary Business Visitor or B-2 Tourist Visa. These are more temporary, although they don’t allow you to work in the country.
Ironically, regardless of which account actually holds true, Trump can be cited in early March for saying:
“I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse and ending outrageous practices such as those that occurred at Disney in Florida when Americans were forced to train their foreign replacements. I will end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program, and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers for every visa and immigration program. No exceptions.”
Melania responded to the recent inquiries about the legality of her time here in a statement posted to her Twitter account:
“In recent days there has been a lot of inaccurate reporting and misinformation concerning my immigration status back in 1996. Let me set the record straight: I have at all times been in full compliance with the immigration laws of this country. Period. Any allegation to the contrary is simply untrue. In July 2006, I proudly became a U.S. citizen. Over the past 20 years, I have been fortunate to live, work and raise a family in this great nation and I share my husband’s love for our country.”
Unfortunately, this still doesn’t address any of the inconsistencies that have been under scrutiny within the past week—especially the placing of her in New York in 1995, as she blatantly addresses her status “back in 1996.” So, for now, the scrutiny remains.
