Melania and Einstein visa: Why some Americans want FLOTUS deported

Amid intensified immigration enforcement and the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke the citizenship of naturalised Americans, a viral petition on MoveOn – a public policy advocacy group – has ignited a debate. The petition, which has gained significant traction online, seeks the deportation of the First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS), Melania Trump, her parents, and her son, Barron Trump.

While largely symbolic, the petition is a response to what critics call the hypocrisy of Trump’s immigration stance — targeting immigrants while his own wife and in-laws benefited from the very system he seeks to curtail.

Apart from being a progressive public policy advocacy group, MoveOn is also a political action committee formed in 1998.

The criticism is focussed on Melania Trump’s use of the EB-1 visa, which is also nicknamed the “Einstein visa”, typically reserved for individuals with extraordinary abilities in fields like science, arts, or business. Critics are saying that if Trump wants to investigate and deport naturalised citizens for possibly taking advantage of immigration rules, then he shouldn’t ignore his own wife’s case.

Melania was born in the former Yugoslavia (now Slovenia) and became a US citizen in 2006, according to official government biographies of the First Lady, Fox News reported. She is the first US First Lady who is a naturalised citizen.

The First Lady sponsored her parents, who were also from current-day Slovenia, for green cards and then citizenship after securing her own citizenship, The New York Times reported in 2018.

Though the petition was originally created five months ago, it has recently gained renewed traction, according to a report in an Ireland-based newspaper, Irish Star.

It had 100 signatures a few days ago, but had risen to over 6,000 by the time this report went for publishing.

PETITION CALLS OUT TRUMP ‘S IMMIGRATION POLICY

The petition questioned Melania Trump’s immigration status and called out Trump’s immigration policy.

“Since Trump wants to deport naturalised citizens, I believe it is only fair that Melania and her parents are on the first boat out. In addition, Melania’s anchor baby, Barron, should be forced to leave as well because we know that his mother’s mother was born in a different country,” the petition read.

The petition further added, “That is part of the criteria that Trump is putting into place. Your mother’s mother has to have been born in the United States and we know Melania’s mother was born elsewhere. If it’s good for one, it’s good for all! There should be no exceptions! On the first boat or flight out.”

The petition also claimed that such action would help avoid any appearance of bias.

“It is important that this is done to show that it is not a matter of favouritism. If this is truly about national security, then Melania needs to go,” the petition also said.

DEMOCRAT MAXINE WATERS HAD FIRST CALLED FOR MELANIA’S DEPORTATION

The petition emerged shortly after Democratic California Representative Maxine Waters, at an anti-DOGE protest in Los Angeles on March 25, called for Trump to look into and possibly deport Melania Trump.

“When he (Trump) talks about birthright, and he’s going to undo the fact that the Constitution allows those who are born here, even if the parents are undocumented, they have a right to stay in America. If he wants to start looking so closely to find those who were born here and their parents were undocumented, maybe he ought to first look at Melania,” Fox News quoted Waters as saying.

“We don’t know whether or not her parents were documented. And maybe we better just take a look,” she added.

Waters was referencing President Trump’s executive order, signed on his first day in office, which aimed to eliminate birthright citizenship.

The executive order works to clarify the 14th Amendment and tighten the rules for birthright citizenship, which states, “All persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

CONGRESSWOMAN JASMINE CROCKETT ALSO QUESTIONED MELANIA ‘S EINSTEIN VISA

Commonly dubbed the “Einstein visa”, the EB-1A is a US immigration program that offers a path to permanent residency for individuals with extraordinary ability in fields such as science, the arts, education, business, or athletics. Reserved for those who have achieved national or international acclaim, the visa targets top-tier talent at the pinnacle of their professions.

Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett raised concerns over how Melania Trump, a former model, secured a visa generally intended for individuals demonstrating “extraordinary ability” in their field.

Crockett said when she last checked, the First Lady had none of those accolades under her belt.

“You’re supposed to have some sort of significant achievement, like being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize or a Pulitzer; being an Olympic medallist; or having other sustained extraordinary abilities and success in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. Last time I checked, the First Lady had none of those accolades under her belt,” US-based weekly magazine Newsweek quoted Crockett as saying.

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