News Reporter: Fact Checker: What’s the immigration status of Melania Trump’s parents?

Friday 16 February 2018

Fact Checker: What’s the immigration status of Melania Trump’s parents?

Democracy Dies in Darkness

The truth behind the rhetoric

What's the immigration status of Melania Trump's parents?

Several readers asked us about the immigration status of Melania Trump's parents after photos of them popped up in social media posts. Keep in mind the First Lady is an immigrant. And President Trump has favored bills that would severely restrict so-called chain migration, including the granting of immigration visas to the parents of U.S. citizens. With congressional debate beginning on overhauling immigration laws, is the president is being hypocritical?

According to various news reports, the First Lady's parents have been living in the United States at least a year and probably much longer — possibly since the mid-2000s. Knowing that, there are essentially four possibilities: legal permanent residence, an extended tourist visa, a visa through parole, and a student visa.

The most logical possibility is that they have received legal permanent residence because they are parents of a U.S. citizen. But given the president's policy preferences, that's also the most problematic option. The White House refuses to answer what should be a simple question. The question is why.

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No, President Trump's tax cuts didn't spark major U.S. investments on their own

President Trump's habit of taking credit for business decisions earned him Four Pinocchios back in March of 2017. Recently, Trump has been making similar claims about companies decisions — "Chrysler [is] moving from Mexico to Michigan," GM Korea "is going to move back to Detroit," Apple is "investing $350 billion" and ExxonMobil is "investing $50 billion" — pointing to the tax overhaul passed in December. Is Trump taking credit where none is due?

Apple, ExxonMobil and Fiat Chrysler to varying degrees say Trump's tax package helped facilitate new U.S. investments. But all of these companies agree the tax package was one of several factors. GM, however, is shuttering a South Korea facility but it is not moving to Detroit.

There's no debate that the tax changes were welcomed by major U.S. corporations and that several of them are responding with domestic investments. But like a proud parent, Trump tends to aggrandize the impact of December's tax deal. President Trump receives Two Pinocchios.

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