Immigrant of the Year: First Lady Melania Trump
Photo Courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar
A previous Immigrant of the Day, soon-to-be- First Lady than Melania Trump is our Immigrant of the Year. She is a jewelry and watch designer and former model who is married to 2016 U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Born in Yugoslavia (now Slovenia), Melania Trump became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2001 and a U.S. citizen in 2006. In January, Melania will become the first foreign-born First Lady since Louisa Adams.
Lauren Collins in the New Yorker provides background about Melania Trump. Melania got her green card in 2001 and became a citizen five years later. As Collins writes, “Melania has expressed little solidarity with less fortunate newcomers.” “I came here for my career, and I did so well, I moved here,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “It never crossed my mind to stay here without papers. That is just the person you are. You follow the rules. You follow the law. Every few months you need to fly back to Europe and stamp your visa.”
Melania has expressed support for some of her husband’s tough-on-immigration positions. Still, questions were raised during the campaign about whether Melania always had an authorized immigration status in the United States.
KJ.