Her own biography and her husband, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, say she immigrated in 1996.
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Donald Trump’s family has been a major part of the campaign’s attempt to soften and shape his image for the public in his general election battle against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
However, Mrs Trump has since downplayed the allegations, reiterating she was “at all times in compliance with the immigration laws of this country”.
Politico pointed out the inconsistencies in her immigration story on Thursday, highlighting a nude photo shoot she modeled in back in 1995. I moved here. It never crossed my mind to stay here without papers. This information has caused her husband’s campaign appear hypocritical since he focuses his attention on attacking multiple racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. She would have been required to do so under other visas, such as the tourist visa, but a tourist visa does not allow individuals to work in the U.S.
“Melania followed all applicable laws and is now a proud citizen of the United States.”
On Thursday, Trump’s campaign refuted the claims made in the story.
The man who discovered Melania, Paolo Zampolli, told CNN that he sponsored her H-1B visa through his modeling agency in 1996 – a year after that racy photo shoot.
If Melania Trump flew back to Europe every couple of months, however, this contradicts reports she came here on an H-1B visa.
On her personal website (which was taken down last week), Trump previously said that she came to NY in 1996, and she also told Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that she “came to NY in 1996” in a January interview.
Mrs. Trump has said she came to the U.S.in 1996 on a visa, got her green card in 2001 and became a USA citizen in 2006, the year after she married Donald Trump. Melania’s accounts suggest she was in the country on a short-term visa. (Trump maintains that she came in 1996.) In addition to when she arrived, there are also questions over the type of visa Trump used, according to Politico.
Mickey Rapkin, who interviewed Melania for magazine DuJour, told Politico that she confirmed to him that she came to the USA on an H-1B work visa. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best”, Trump infamously said in his announcement speech, ultimately calling immigrants “rapists”.
The Politico story goes into all the nitty gritty visa details, but the gist is that, depending on which visa she had, if Trump did indeed work in the USA before 1996, she could be in legal trouble. She has stated in the past that she obtained the “green card” designating her as a lawful permanent USA resident in 2001.
H-1B visas allow foreign workers with special skills to work in the US for three years with the possibility of renewing for another three years.
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U.S. immigration law did not require such trips that Mrs Trump describes for work-visa holders at the time.
