— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 24, 2025
Her comments came as Trump pushed for mass deportations and tried to end birthright citizenship, which grants U.S. citizenship to anyone born on American soil.
Melania Trump, born Melanija Knauss, came to the U.S. from Slovenia and became a citizen in 2006. Her parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, followed her to the U.S. and became citizens in 2018. Their citizenship was possible because Melania sponsored them—a process Trump himself has attacked as “chain migration.”
Trump has been very vocal about stopping family-based immigration.
“CHAIN MIGRATION must end now! Some people come in, and they bring their whole family with them, who can be truly evil. NOT ACCEPTABLE!” Trump posted on Twitter in 2017.
At the time, critics pointed out the hypocrisy of Trump attacking chain migration while his own wife used it to bring her parents to the U.S.
Legally, Melania is safe. She is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and citizenship cannot be taken away unless it was obtained fraudulently.
However, Waters’ comments were meant to highlight the double standard in Trump’s immigration policies.
Trump wants to make it harder for people to stay in the U.S. if their parents were undocumented—yet his wife’s own parents became citizens through family sponsorship.
“We don’t know whether or not her parents were documented. And maybe we better just take a look,” Waters said.
Trump has been pushing hard to end birthright citizenship, which has been protected by the 14th Amendment since 1868. On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order to limit who gets U.S. citizenship.
The order argued that citizenship should only be given to children born to U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. However, federal courts quickly blocked the order, and Trump’s lawyers have now asked the Supreme Court to weigh in.
Trump’s immigration policies have been very harsh. His administration has deported many people, sent Venezuelan migrants to a dangerous El Salvador prison, separated families at the border, and made it harder for immigrants to get legal status. At the same time, some of Trump’s allies have used the same immigration system he criticizes. Melania’s sister, Ines, was able to become a U.S. resident with Melania’s help.
If “chain migration” is so bad, why was it good enough for Melania’s parents? That’s a question Trump won’t want to answer.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
