Racy photos of Melania Trump published recently by the New York Post ended up highlighting more than just the fact that the would-be first lady has posed nude. Although Melania has repeatedly claimed she moved to New York in 1996, the photo shoot happened in New York in 1995. To do that photo shoot legally, Politico reported that Melania would've needed a working visa, which would not require the frequent trips back to Europe that she has often described taking:
If, as she has said, Trump came to New York in 1996 and obtained a green card in 2001, she likely would not have had to return to Europe even once to renew an H-1B.Instead, Trump's description of her periodic renewals in Europe are more consistent with someone traveling on a B-1 Temporary Business Visitor or B-2 Tourist Visa, which typically last only up to six months and do not permit employment.If someone were to enter the United States on one of those visas with the intention of working, it could constitute visa fraud, according to Andrew Greenfield, a partner at the Washington office of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen, & Loewy, a firm that specializes in immigration law. [Politico]
If an investigation were to turn up visa fraud, that would "call into question a green card application and subsequent citizenship application," Politico reported, "thus raising questions about Melania Trump's legal status, even today, despite her marriage to a U.S. citizen."
Head over to Politico for more on the story, including how Melania's immigration troubles could affect her husband — and the GOP's anti-immigration nominee for president — Donald Trump.
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Update 11:03 a.m.: Melania Trump issued a statement regarding the allegations on Twitter, insisting she fully complied with immigration laws and that suggestions otherwise are "simply untrue." Her statement appears in full below. Becca Stanek
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