Former US first lady Melania Trump faced backlash after delivering a speech about facing hardships while immigrating to the country.
Melania Trump- Donald Trump’s wife is a naturalised US citizen born in Slovenia. During a speech at the National Archives Naturalization Ceremony, she shared her experience about the American immigration process.
Addressing, 25 immigrants from 25 different nations who were sworn in as new US citizens, Melania Trump congratulated them “for every step you took, every obstacle you overcome, and every sacrifice you made” to obtain citizenship.
“My personal experience of traversing the challenges of the immigration process opened my eyes to the harsh realities people face, including you, who try to become US citizens. Then, of course, there are nuances of understanding the United States immigration laws and the complex legal language contained therein. I was very devoted, but I certainly was not an attorney,” she said.
Donald Trump has promised to crack down on US immigration policies if reelected to office in the 2024 election. In 2018, Melania Trump’s parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, were sworn in as citizens through a pathway that Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested eliminating- chain migration. Owing to this, social media users slammed Melania Trump’s speech.
“Melania has the audacity to speak of hardship path to citizenship when her husband has criminalized immigration and path to citizenship,” one user wrote while another said, “Who did Melania plagiarize today? A woman whose husband wants to implement an immigration ban.
“Who else thinks @USNatArchives insulted new citizens by having Melania Trump as keynote speaker?” wrote a third, “She lied on her immigration form to obtain an Einstein Visa. She really doesn’t care, but I do!”
“Did anyone ever interview Melania’s immigration lawyer who got her into the US via the ‘Einstein Visa’ program so she could later ‘chain migrate’ her parents?” a user wrote, adding, “What exactly was her special talent?”