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Last week, ThinkProgress Immigration Reporter Esther Yu Hsi Lee wrote a piece defending Melania Trump’s possible visa violations before becoming an American citizen.
As an immigrant, I disagree.
Lee bases her argument on the premise that “the bureaucratic nightmare of the outdated U.S. immigration system has been unable to keep up with the modern demands of migration.”
While I agree with that assessment, it would not excuse Melania Trump violating her visa terms multiple times. Particularly since she may have done so wittingly, and with none of the extenuating circumstances that push many to enter this country illegally.
As an Egyptian citizen, I had to apply for visas to visit, study, work, and finally immigrate to the US.
As the recipient of B-1 tourist visas, an F-1 student visa, an H-1B work visa, and finally an F-4 immigrant visa, I have had to fill numerous application forms, go to multiple interviews, and answer endless questions about my background, my history, and my intentions in coming to the US.
For the last two visas, I was subject to the caps that Lee mentions in her piece. I was lucky enough to get through the H-1B lottery and receive one of the 65,000 visas allocated for 2015. For my eventual immigrant visa, my family had to wait 13 years. And I was included in the application, thanks to Barack Obama’s “Child Status Protection Act,” after I had resigned myself to being excluded from the family application due to my age.
According to Melania Trump, she had to fly to Europe every few months to renew her visa stamp. As many have pointed out, this requirement is only necessary for people on B-1/B-2 tourist or business tourist visas, both of which prohibit a person from gainful employment in the US.
While Lee says, and experts seem to agree, that it’s “easier than one might think to fall out of status,” working while on a B-1/B-2 visa is not exactly “falling out of status.” We’re not talking about someone failing to count the days they’ve been in the US, and then missing a deadline to leave the country. We’re talking about someone who may have deliberately lied about why they came to the US.
To receive a B-1/B-2 visa, you have to indicate on your application and at your interview that you are not coming to the US with the intention to become employed.
This means that, if Melania really did work while on a B-1/B-2 visa (as many have speculated in light of her recently-surfaced modeling photos from the time), there are only two apparent options: 1) She lied on her application and interview when she said she had no intention to work; or 2) A job opportunity arose and she decided not to mention that she was not legally employable.
The fact that she returned to Europe every few months seems to prove that she was aware she was on a short-term tourist visa (which only allows a maximum 6-month stay even if the visa itself is longer). And that she had to leave and re-enter the US so as not to overstay her legal term.
I, like Melania, am lucky enough to not need to navigate the 100,000 refugee visa cap. I did not come here to escape war, persecution, or threat of injury or death. Neither did Melania.
The immigration system is archaic and in massive need of overhaul. But cases like Melania’s (or my own) are not the ones with the most pressing need for a better immigration system. Cases like Melania’s are also not where we should excuse gaffes, particularly not when they seem intentional. And certainly not when they’re committed by someone hoping to become the first lady of the most anti-immigration president in modern history.
(This piece was originally published on my Medium blog.)
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