First Lady’s Parents Become U.S. Citizens Thanks To ‘Chain Migration’

Amalija and Viktor Knavs, parents of first lady Melania Trump, walk on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, in June 2017.

Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

First lady Melania Trump’s Slovenian-born parents were sworn in as U.S. citizens Thursday, benefiting from a path to citizenship known as family-based immigration that the president and others have derisively dubbed “chain migration.”

Viktor and Amalija Knavs, both in their 70s, attended a private swearing-in ceremony in Manhattan, according to their lawyer, Michael Wildes, who said the couple had “travailed a wonderful journey” to become Americans.

“This golden experiment, these doors that are in America, remain hinged open to beautiful people as they have today,” Wildes said after the ceremony, according to The Associated Press.