Viktor and Amalija Knavs stirred up controversy when they became U.S. citizens in 2018
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Town and Country reports that the Knavses first stepped foot on U.S. soil in February 2004, when they visited New York City and Mar-a-Lago. In April the same year, Donald Trump proposed to their daughter, Melania. Fourteen years later, after having lived in the United States as green card-carrying permanent residents, they became U.S. Citizens.
Purportedly for security reasons, Melania Trump’s parents were naturalized in August 2018, during a private, low profile, 20-minute ceremony, held at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City (via The New York Times). According to the Chicago Tribune, the couple accessed the building through a side entrance, escorted by the Department of Homeland Security Police. Melania Trump, herself, was conspicuously absent from the ceremony. Her parents purportedly told their lawyers that the First Lady was in Bedminster, N.J. at the time, and presumably close to Trump National Golf Club. The ceremony might have gone relatively uncommented upon (as intended?) had it not been for President Trump’s high profile immigration politics. As it is, the naturalization proceedings racked in headlines from nationally prominent news outlets (including The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, NPR, The Washington Post, and The Guardian). All outlets were quick to point out that the Knavses had received citizenship through the same policies of “chain migration” that Trump had so vocally criticized.
The Truth About Melania Trump’s Parents
Pool/Getty Images
By Hanna Claeson/Aug. 26, 2020 11:57 am EST
The married couple has come along way from the two-bedroom apartment they used to inhabit in their home town, Sevnica, Slovenia (population 5,000) where Melania Trump grew up.
The Knavses did well in Communist Slovenia
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Viktor and Amalija Knavs stirred up controversy when they became U.S. citizens in 2018
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Town and Country reports that the Knavses first stepped foot on U.S. soil in February 2004, when they visited New York City and Mar-a-Lago. In April the same year, Donald Trump proposed to their daughter, Melania. Fourteen years later, after having lived in the United States as green card-carrying permanent residents, they became U.S. Citizens.
Purportedly for security reasons, Melania Trump’s parents were naturalized in August 2018, during a private, low profile, 20-minute ceremony, held at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City (via The New York Times). According to the Chicago Tribune, the couple accessed the building through a side entrance, escorted by the Department of Homeland Security Police. Melania Trump, herself, was conspicuously absent from the ceremony. Her parents purportedly told their lawyers that the First Lady was in Bedminster, N.J. at the time, and presumably close to Trump National Golf Club. The ceremony might have gone relatively uncommented upon (as intended?) had it not been for President Trump’s high profile immigration politics. As it is, the naturalization proceedings racked in headlines from nationally prominent news outlets (including The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, NPR, The Washington Post, and The Guardian). All outlets were quick to point out that the Knavses had received citizenship through the same policies of “chain migration” that Trump had so vocally criticized.
Purportedly for security reasons, Melania Trump’s parents were naturalized in August 2018, during a private, low profile, 20-minute ceremony, held at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City (via The New York Times). According to the Chicago Tribune, the couple accessed the building through a side entrance, escorted by the Department of Homeland Security Police. Melania Trump, herself, was conspicuously absent from the ceremony. Her parents purportedly told their lawyers that the First Lady was in Bedminster, N.J. at the time, and presumably close to Trump National Golf Club.
The ceremony might have gone relatively uncommented upon (as intended?) had it not been for President Trump’s high profile immigration politics. As it is, the naturalization proceedings racked in headlines from nationally prominent news outlets (including The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, NPR, The Washington Post, and The Guardian). All outlets were quick to point out that the Knavses had received citizenship through the same policies of “chain migration” that Trump had so vocally criticized.
