Melania Trump: Immigration Law Violator?

There has been much speculation about whether Melania Trump broke immigration laws when she first came to the US from Slovenia in 1996. Working in the US without authorization is a civil violation, and anyone misrepresenting themselves to the US government is subject to a criminal complaint.

Melania Trump's lawyer, Michael Wildes, has stated that she did not break any immigration laws. He wrote a letter confirming that she went through the correct legal processes to immigrate to the US, and she tweeted this letter, saying it established her immigration history with 100% certainty.

However, news reports have claimed that she worked as a model illegally in the US in 1995, and some sources suggest that she may have worked in the US on a tourist visa, which is not legal.

In 2016, Trump said that he and his wife would host a press conference to address these claims, but it is unclear if this ever happened.

Did Melania Trump work illegally in the US as a model?

There are conflicting reports about whether Melania Trump worked illegally in the US as a model.

Some sources claim that Melania was paid for 10 modelling jobs in the United States worth $20,056 before she had legal permission to work in the country. These modelling jobs took place in the seven weeks before she obtained her H-1B work visa on 18 October 1996. She arrived in the US from Slovenia on 27 August 1996 on a B1/B2 visitor visa, which allowed her to generally be in the US and look for work but not perform paid work in the country.

However, Melania has always maintained that she arrived in the US legally and never violated the terms of her immigration status. A New York immigration lawyer, Michael J. Wildes, who was asked by Melania to review her immigration documents, said that the documents alleging she worked illegally "do not reflect our records including corresponding passport stamps".

Did she enter the US without a visa?

Melania Trump, originally from Slovenia, first came to the US in 1996 on a tourist visa. She then obtained a string of working visas for skilled immigrants, including an H-1B visa, which allowed her to work.

At the time, she was working as a model in New York. She met her future husband, Donald Trump, at a party in 1998, and they began dating shortly afterward.

Melania received her green card in 2001, granting her permanent residency in the US. She became a citizen of the US in 2006.

Did she lie about her immigration status?

There has been much speculation about Melania Trump's immigration status when she first moved to the U.S. in 1996.

According to her lawyer, Michael Wildes, Melania Trump never broke U.S. immigration law and "did not work illegally in the U.S. as a model." He claims that she continuously had legal status before she became a citizen.

However, news reports have contradicted this statement, alleging that she worked as a model illegally in the U.S. in 1995. Wildes has dismissed these claims as "impossible," stating that Melania did not enter the U.S. until 1996. He further added that she obtained her first H-1B visa in October 1996, which authorized her to work as a model in the U.S.

In response to the allegations, Melania tweeted: "I have at all times been in full compliance with the immigration laws of this country. Period. Any allegation to the contrary is simply untrue."

Despite these assertions, questions have been raised about the specifics of her immigration path, particularly regarding her work visas and green card. There have been suggestions that she may have worked in the U.S. on a tourist visa, which is not legal for models.

Without the release of Melania's immigration documents, it is challenging to conclusively determine whether she lied about her immigration status. However, if she did misrepresent herself to the U.S. government, she would have incurred legal vulnerabilities.

Did she commit tax fraud?

There are speculations that Melania Trump may have committed tax fraud by filing joint tax returns with her husband, Donald Trump. They paid a total of $1,500 in income taxes for 2016 and 2017, and declared negative income for 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2020. In 2020, the couple claimed a refund of $5.47 million and paid no income tax. In 2019, they declared $2.97 million in taxable income and paid $133,445 in taxes.

Donald Trump has spent decades bragging about cheating the tax system, and his scheme appears to be overvaluing assets to get loans and undervaluing them to avoid paying taxes. By signing the tax returns, Melania Trump may be held liable for any tax fraud committed. However, it is important to note that the possibility of tax fraud has not been proven, and getting a conviction for tax fraud can be challenging.

Did she commit immigration fraud?

There has been much speculation about whether Melania Trump broke immigration laws when she first came to the US from Slovenia in 1996. Working in the US without authorization is a civil violation, and anyone who misrepresents themselves to the US government is subject to a criminal complaint.

Melania's lawyer, Michael Wildes, has stated that she did not break any immigration laws. He wrote a letter confirming that she went through the correct legal processes to immigrate to the US, and she tweeted this letter, along with the message: "I am pleased to enclose a letter from my immigration attorney which states that, with 100% certainty, I correctly went through the legal process when arriving in the USA."

However, news reports have claimed that she worked as a model illegally in the US in 1995, and in 2016, the Associated Press (AP) obtained documents that appeared to show she was paid for 10 modelling assignments between September 10 and October 15, 1995, when her visa only allowed her to look for work, not carry it out.

Wildes has said that these allegations are "completely without merit", and that Melania did not enter the US until 1996, making it "impossible" for her to have taken part in a photo shoot in 1995. He added that she obtained a visa in October 1996 that authorised her to work as a model.

Melania has also been accused of immigration fraud, a felony-level crime, for lying about her early work history on her green card and citizenship applications. If she had worked in the US on a tourist visa, this would not have been legal.

However, it is unclear whether she did work illegally, and the Trump administration has not released any documents relating to her immigration status.

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