As President Donald Trump ramps up his immigration enforcement efforts, a provocative counter-movement has emerged online, one that targets his own family. A petition on MoveOn.org titled “Deport Melania, Melania’s parents, and Baron in the first round of deportations!” has garnered nearly 3,000 signatures, igniting controversy over the president’s hardline stance on immigration and naturalization.
The petition argues that if Trump is serious about deporting naturalized citizens and undocumented immigrants, then his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, along with her parents and son Barron, should not be exempt. “Since Trump wants to deport naturalized citizens, I believe it is only fair that Melania and her parents are on the first boat out,” the petition states.
“Melania’s anchor baby, Baron, should be forced to leave as well because we know that his mother’s mother was born in a different country.” The petition’s language echoes Trump’s own proposed criteria for immigration, highlighting what critics claim is a double standard. “If it’s good for one, it’s good for all! There should be no exceptions! On the first boat or flight out!” the petition continues.
Its authors argue that applying Trump’s proposed immigration policies to his own family would demonstrate fairness and eliminate any appearance of favoritism. “If this is truly about national security, then Melania needs to go!” it reads.
Melania Trump, born Melanija Knavs in Slovenia in 1970, moved to the United States in 1996 to pursue a modeling career. She was granted a green card in 2001 and became a U.S. citizen in 2006—just one year before marrying Donald Trump. She is the second foreign-born First Lady in U.S. history and the first to be naturalized.
Melania’s immigration history has previously come under scrutiny, particularly regarding whether she maintained a valid visa during her early modeling years. Questions were also raised about how her parents, Amalija and Viktor Knavs, secured U.S. residency reportedly through the “chain migration” process that President Trump has publicly criticized.
Echoing the petition’s sentiments, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) commented during a Los Angeles rally, “We don’t know whether or not her parents were documented. And maybe we’d better just take a look. If he wants to start looking so closely to find those who were born here and their parents were undocumented, maybe he ought to first look at Melania.”
The petition remains symbolic and holds no legal power, but it underscores growing resistance to the administration’s immigration agenda and the calls for equal application of the law, even at the highest levels.