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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMelania Trump was Illegal Immigrant?
whether the former Melania Knauss was associated with another number -- an H-1B or a B1 or B2 visa, or perhaps some other designation that enabled a single Eastern European woman to earn a living in the U.S.
Melania Trump's personal website was taken down after a minor controversy over her claim that she had received a degree in architecture from the University of Ljubljana in her native Slovenia. It seems she is not actually a college graduate.
So what if she isn't? It might matter because a college degree can be an important credential for someone applying for a visa to work in the U.S. For all the scrutiny of her life style, remarkably little is known about Mrs. Trump's emigration to the U.S. What are the facts of her prior immigration status? How did she obtain a green card, which is no easy feat?
In April, GQ Magazine reported that Melania Knauss had used a work visa when she came to New York: "Paolo Zampolli, a wealthy Italian whose business interests in New York are broad and vague, brought Melania over on a modeling contract and a work visa."
In an interview in February, Melania Trump made the point that she always followed the immigration rules.
"I follow the law," Trump said. "I follow a law the way it's supposed to be. I never thought to stay here without papers. I had visa. I travel every few months back to the country, to Slovenia, to stamp the visa. I came back. I applied for the green card. I applied for the citizenship later on after many years of green card. So I went by system. I went by the law, and you should do that."
But there is usually no need to travel back and forth every few months to "stamp the visa." H-1B work visa holders are generally admitted to the U.S. for a three-year duration. Employers of H-1B visa holders can also petition to extend the holder's stay in the U.S.
Which visa did Melania Knauss have? If she had a work visa, why was it necessary to travel back and forth every few months to stamp it? If she had a tourist visa, why was she working?
This topic might seem less worthy of investigation if her husband had not waged a lengthy crusade demanding to see various birth and education documents pertaining to President Barack Obama. In addition, the Trump campaign has dedicated itself to the proposition that anyone who has gamed the U.S. immigration system must be dealt with in the harshest terms.
Immigration law is complex and often confounding. There may be an excellent reason for Melania Trump's seemingly untroubled navigation of what, to many visitors, are treacherous legal waters. It would be good to know the answers, however, before she moves into the White House.
http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-08-03/melania-trump-lucky-immigrant
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,128 posts)Jim__
(14,101 posts)IOW, if I don't agree with the law, I just ignore it.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)money talks, bullshit walks
Stinky The Clown
(67,855 posts)She didn't get rich until she made boinkie boink with Tiny Hands.
She is probably a KGB agent.
HipChick
(25,485 posts)hunter
(38,362 posts)If Melania is not a venal blowhard like her husband then she has built herself an unimaginably terrible hell.
Would you sleep with Donald Trump?
Ilsa
(61,721 posts)as big a liar as Dumb Donald.
tableturner
(1,690 posts)If you look at the comments, sorted by "Best", the first one is hilarious. Again, this comment is NOT my comment. Here it is:
ratiocination a day ago
When Slovenia sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems, and theyre bringing those problems with us. Theyre bringing gold-diggers. Theyre bringing plagiarists. Theyre bringing college dropouts claiming to be graduates. And some, I assume, are good people.
karadax
(284 posts)Exclusively for models.
Kathy M
(1,242 posts)Especially after running across an article involving Trumps modeling agency .......Article is from CNN money
"These are temporary foreign workers, imported from abroad, for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay. I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse," Trump said in a statement on his website, though he backtracked on his position during a recent Republican debate.
While this visa program is best known for bringing over technology workers like engineers and computer programmers, Trump's own modeling agency has used the program for years, federal data shows. That's because federal law surprisingly lumps in fashion models with these other specialized workers -- though it's the only job that doesn't require higher education. (Instead, models must have "distinguished merit and ability."
And now, the use of this visa by Trump Model Management, founded by Trump in 1999, is being questioned. "
"The agency is currently battling a proposed class action lawsuit filed by Jamaican model Alexia Palmer, who was brought to the country with an H-1B visa.
The suit alleges that the agency recruits foreign models with promises of wages that never materialize and defrauds the U.S. government on visa applications. Palmer is currently the only plaintiff and the suit has not yet been approved as a class-action. "
http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/10/news/trump-model-visas/
napkinz
(17,199 posts)on AM Joy right now
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