Melania Trump’s Parents Receive U.S. Citizenship Using “Chain Migration” Process That Trump Wants To End

The very same program that brought Donald Trump’s in-laws to the United States is the very same program he is attempting to end.

Chain migration is a term used to refer to a process that migrants use to follow others from the same town to a new destination. That new destination may be a new country, city or town. With chain migration “prospective migrants typically learn about new opportunities, are given transportation, and have initial accommodation and employment arranged by means of primary social relationships with previous migrants.”

This process is what #MelaniaTrump’s Slovenian parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, completed in order to enter and stay in the U.S. on Thursday during a private ceremony in Manhattan. The gag is Trump despises “chain migration” referring to it as a “dirtier” way of characterizing what he called “a bedrock of our immigration process when it comes to family reunification.”

The New York Times spoke with Knavs’ lawyer and she explained Melania had previously sponsored her parents on a green card and applied for citizenship once they were eligible. But last year, Trump seized the policy claiming it poses a threat to national security. Earlier this year, Trump spoke on the process.

“Under the current broken system, a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives. Under our plan, we focus on the immediate family by limiting sponsorships to spouses and minor children. This vital reform is necessary, not just for our economy, but for our security and our future.