In a recent demonstration against the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Los Angeles, Democrat Representative Maxine Waters made a controversial suggestion regarding First Lady Melania Trump.
Addressing the crowd, Waters proposed that President Donald Trump should consider investigating and potentially deporting his wife. Her remarks were captured in various videos circulating on social media.
"When he [Trump] talks about birthright, and hes going to undo the fact that the Constitution allows those who are born here, even if the parents are illegal, 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 illegal, maybe he ought to first look at Melania," Waters stated during the rally, as reported by One America News. She further questioned the documentation status of Melania Trump's parents, suggesting, "We dont know whether or not her parents were documented. And maybe we better just take a look."
Melania Trump, originally from Slovenia, became a U.S. citizen in 2006. She holds the distinction of being the second First Lady born outside the United States, following Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, who hailed from London. Melania Trump is also the first First Lady to achieve naturalization. After securing her citizenship, she sponsored her parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, for green cards and eventual citizenship, as documented by a 2018 New York Times article. Viktor Knavs has been a visible presence at Trump family events, while Amalija Knavs passed away in 2024.
Waters' comments were made in reference to an executive order signed by President Trump on his first day in office, which seeks to eliminate birthright citizenship. According to Fox News, "The Trump EO seeks to narrow the scope of birthright citizenship to ban individuals who were born to illegal immigrant parents, or those who were here legally but on temporary non-immigrant visas." This executive order is currently under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The protest in Los Angeles, where Waters spoke, was organized by left-wing activists opposing the Trump administration and DOGE's initiatives to curb government inefficiency. Demonstrators marched to the VA hospital on Wilshire Boulevard, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. Waters, addressing the crowd, declared, "We are here because we are not going to let Trump, were not going to let Elon Musk, his co-president, or anybody else take the United States Constitution down."
This incident highlights the ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and its critics, as well as the broader debate over immigration policies and constitutional rights. As the Supreme Court deliberates on the executive order, the nation awaits a decision that could have significant implications for the future of birthright citizenship in the United States.
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