Melania Trump got green card through program for people with extraordinary ability: report

[demmiblue]

Source: The Hill

First lady Melania Trump reportedly got a green card through a program specifically for people with "extraordinary ability."

The first lady in 2001 was given a green card through the elite EB-1 program, The Washington Post reported.

The EB-1 program is reserved for people including academic researchers, multinational business executives and people who have shown "sustained national and international acclaim," the Post noted

“We called it the Einstein visa,” Bruce Morrison, a former Democratic congressman and chairman of the House subcommittee that wrote the Immigration Act of 1990 defining EB-1, told the newspaper.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376207-melania-trump-got-us-visa-through-program-for-people-with

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Questions linger about how Melania Trump, a Slovenian model, scored ‘the Einstein visa’

In 2000, Melania Knauss, a Slovenian model dating Donald Trump, began petitioning the government for the right to permanently reside in the United States under a program reserved for people with “extraordinary ability.”

Knauss’s credentials included runway shows in Europe, a Camel cigarette billboard ad in Times Square and — in her biggest job at the time — a spot in the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated, which featured her on the beach in a string bikini, hugging a six-foot inflatable whale.

In March 2001, she was granted a green card in the elite EB-1 program, which was designed for renowned academic researchers, multinational business executives or those in other fields, such as Olympic athletes and Oscar-winning actors, who demonstrated “sustained national and international acclaim.”

“We called it the Einstein visa,” said Bruce Morrison, a former Democratic congressman and chairman of the House subcommittee that wrote the Immigration Act of 1990 defining EB-1.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/questions-linger-about-how-melania-trump-a-slovenian-model-scored-the-einstein-visa/2018/02/28/d307ddb2-1b35-11e8-ae5a-16e60e4605f3_story.html?utm_term=.fbd64ba6e542

[ollie10]

1. Another Einstein, huh?

[global1]

2. Her Extraordinary Ability Is....

the ability to put up with the likes of a Donald Trump.

[NewJeffCT]

10. was just about to post the same

That is a truly extraordinary ability.

[lark]

11. It's the ability to spread her legs for money and keep her mouth shut.

Oh, I forgot lying and plagiarizing and doing absolutely nothing at all as FLOTUS (must wash my fingers after typing that, yuck). All done just for the love of money since she can't stand, and with excellent reasons, the horrific serial philanderer and asshole.

[gopiscrap]

14. BINGO

[iluvtennis]

43. BINGO +2 (I was afraid to say it on this board)

[PearliePoo2]

22. Nailed her!

She's a total phony, besides being a "Birther" too.

She even had the balls to insist on seeing President Obama's college transcripts. That's especially rich considering she lied about her own university background.
fuck off Melania.

[montanacowboy]

45. Damn Straight

Perfect answer

She is absolutely worthless

[Farmer-Rick]

52. Sex worker extraordinaire

You know that's equivalent to developing the special theory of relativity and the equivalence of matter and energy.

Only in a spoiled 10 year old boy's head. Someone born to such excess wealth they have lost all ability to read social cues and only know what they want and want it now.

[hamsterjill]

63. Thank you for telling it like it is.

She is bought and paid for.

[logosoco]

20. LOL I would stand a better chance of learning "Einstien level" math

and physics than I could ever be able to put up with trump!!!

[forgotmylogin]

65. She has two extraordinary abilities. (n/t)

[jberryhill]

3. Obviously, she has one

[mac56]

4. "Extraordinary ability."

[mr_lebowski]

17. Does she like ... PHOTOGRAPHY? KnowWhatIMean? Candid Photos, eh?

Grin Grin Snap Snap Nudge Nudge Wink Wink?

[OhNo-Really]

19. Trumps buddies Stone and Mannafort had strong relations with BushCo

Melania was a Trump model.

Trump fell for Melania, called his well-connected buddies in DC....

Exceptional Melania gets green card.

Favors were called in.

Stone orchestrated the Brooks Brothers raid on the Florida chad count, making Bush president.

Stone, Mannafort, and Trump go waaay back.

[green917]

35. stone and manafort

Were also behind the racist "Willie Horton" ad in the '80s... snakes with a long history of dirty dealing.

[OhNo-Really]

66. Atwater their employee took credit

stone and Paul are pure evil

[SunSeeker]

48. Yep. Thanks for the post. nt

[mpcamb]

5. So who took the money?

And who delivered it?

[rainin]

6. Follow the money. Who approved this and how much was he paid? And by whom? n/t

[CanonRay]

7. She's good at what she does.

I'll leave it at that.

[Firestorm49]

8. Trying Not To Injure Myself Laughing

Well, it just goes to show you, money talks and bullshit walks. This is too much. My guts are aching.

[nocalflea]

27. "I couldn't possibly comment ... "

[flamingdem]

9. It doesn't take a genius

to figure out a tip was involved.

Way to go Einstein/s!

[AJT]

12. Another stable genius.

[bunt homer]

13. Nope. Not gonna say it.

Bursting at the seams to say it, but I wanna be here tomorrow!

[chwaliszewski]

15. What, exactly, is her extraordinary ability?

Normally, I wouldn't touch a gimme such as this. But I'll make an exception this time. Her extraordinary ability is probably selling her soul for a chance to sleep with Trump without puking.

[rurallib]

16. once of the best at the world's oldest profession

[Fred Sanders]

39. She is white and NOT Muslim, so she gets a pass in Trump World...isn't that the true answer?

[Zoonart]

18. Okay... so why isn't she sharing her big brain...

and extraordinary ability with her country as First Lady? HUuuuuuuMMMMMMMM?

[Eyeball_Kid]

28. Is it the way she carries her breast implants?

[TwistOneUp]

31. Keeping the "little guy" at attention for 30 minutes

Even though the big guy has a thirty second attention span.

Now *that's* talent.

[cloudbase]

38. She can suck start a Ducati. n/t

[SunSeeker]

47. ...

[infullview]

59. OH NO! Some one said it!!!

[crazycatlady]

67. finding something incredibly tiny

[FakeNoose]

21. Does anyone on DU have insider knowledge of the EB-1 program?

I don't, but I think I remember reading about this several years ago.

I believe that the EB-1 program is hard to qualify for because they put up many roadblocks and "special" qualifications. However if you know somebody who knows how to work the system, it's not all that tricky to get the EB-1 green card. They save it for celebrities who might have to wait on a long list of names under different qualifications (where the quotas are tighter.)

I'm wondering if maybe there's no quota for this EB-1 green card, perhaps they take none or as many as they feel like taking, but that's the part I'm not sure about. I've looked on the USCIS website and I can't find anything that tells how many EB-1 green cards are issued each year. I think that's because they don't want us to know.

https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-first-preference-eb-1

There's a lot of info on the site concerning Citizenship and Immigration Services, but only one page is devoted to the EB-1 permit. Can someone enlighten me on this?

[meadowlander]

51. Not specifically EB-1

but a lot of other countries have an immigration category that includes self-employed "talented people" like writers/artists/actors/etc who wouldn't be able to get in under other categories that require them to have a permanent job offer from a regular employer. So models would probably technically fall into the category as well.

[FakeNoose]

55. Melania's case is a little different

She was already dating Trump and she had at least temporary employment. I'm wondering if he had some of his "best" lawyers look into it and find some way to get her in.

On the other hand, anyone in Melania's situation trying to do it on their own, probably wouldn't get past Square One. That's what I meant by the roadblocks they seem to put up to discourage people.

If you're lucky enough to know Bill Gates or Donald Trump, it's a different story. I wouldn't call this the "Einstein Pass" it's more like the "Privileged Rich Pass." But I could be wrong about this, I'm hoping somebody on DU knows more than I do.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

61. I do...

I also have intimate knowledge of the case. That's as far as I'll disclose. There are essentially two paths to a green card (permanent residence/lawful permanent resident status). One is through family (family based/FB). The other through employment (employment based/EB). That's what EB means. Within the EB queue there are priorities (since there's only an allotted number of 'green cards' per fiscal year).
EB-1 is for those who possess 'extraordinary ability' as set out by USCIS regulations. EB-2 are multinational managers/executives, outstanding researchers, etc. (EB-2s get to avoid the preliminary step of obtaining a PERM labor certification through the DOL). EB-3s are professionals (they have to first get a PERM labor certification through the DOL. The PERM is its own hell which I'm not going to get into - too long). EB-4s are unskilled workers and EB-5s are the infamous investors.

'Extraordinary ability' as defined by USCIS is fairly objective for disciplines in the hard sciences and business, but far less so for the arts. How do you define 'extraordinary ability' for a model? Simply stated, that would mean appearing in publications of international reputation and circulation, being photographed by world-famous photographers, being featured in advertisements by prestigious brands, making a lot of money per assignment (as evidenced by contracts, invoices, etc.), having well-known people in the industry write letters on your behalf, etc.

I've done EB-1 I-140 petitions (the I-140 is the Immigrant Worker Petition step prior to filing the I-485 adjustment of status to permanent resident) for designers, athletes, architects, hairstylists, photographers, makeup artists, tattoo artists, surgeons, writers, directors, actors, musicians and yes, even adult movie stars. In the case of Melania, nothing out of the ordinary was done that isn't done for other models (not all of whom are supermodels). I can assure you there was no pressure by anyone and I can also assure you that everyone involved despises Trump with a passion.

[FakeNoose]

62. OK this helps a lot!

Thanks for your reply with so much useful info.

[pandr32]

23. I can't find any pictures from her claimed runway career whatsoever

The only pictures I can find are from her in her own clothes at sixteen and some rather campy ones much later. She claims she went on to work at the big fashion houses in Milan and Paris on the catwalks for their shows, but I cannot find a single picture which is odd--especially since she is now famous. Those shows are well photographed. During this missing period, she was able to afford breast implants and plastic surgery. She met Zampolli, a friend of Trump's who was scouting for girls to bring to the US and he brought her in. She met Trump at a party in New York put on by Zampolli.

[Bayard]

24. "her on the beach in a string bikini, hugging a six-foot inflatable whale"

Life has not changed much for Melania, has it?

[Rollo]

37. Presactly... LOL!

[SunSeeker]

49. LOL

[Historic NY]

25. Nude performance artist...

[mopinko]

26. and claimed a college degree she didnt actually have.

and then brought in her parents through the dreaded "chain migration".

[SunSeeker]

50. Hmmm. If she lied on her EB-1 App that she had a degree, that's a felony I believe.

There are pretty draconian punishments for lying on your immigration papers.

[Richard D]

29. Perhaps . . .

. . . having sex with drumpf could be classified as an extraordinary ability . . .

[a la izquierda]

30. This annoys the hell out of me.

I’m trying to get a visa to work in europe. I have a PhD and speak three languages, and I face so much red tape.

[Pepsidog]

32. Staying with the creep Trump is evidence of extraordinary ability and bad judgement.

If the visa was issued based on material misrepresentions then revoke it or her citizenship and send her to immigration detention camp and send her back to shithole Slovenia. Although I have come to like her simply because she distains the Prick in Chief.

[TomCADem]

33. I Give Up. What is her super power?

I got nothing. Being a white immigrant?

[Angry Dragon]

34. She is the first nude First Lady

[jayschool2013]

36. A mitzvah

[catbyte]

40. She could suck a golf ball through a garden hose?

[dewsgirl]

54. +1

[a kennedy]

41. Read more here.....love the statement she was never a Super medel she was an average model.....

http://nationalpost.com/news/world/how-did-working-model-melania-trump-score-u-s-einstein-visa-for-gifted-academics

[redstatebluegirl]

42. I"m sure she has one or two hidden talents....

[George II]

44. She certainly wasn't hiding anything when she posed for those magazines.

[mn9driver]

46. Trump was dating her at this time.

It’s pretty obvious what happened. The paper trail and the timing and beneficiaries of Trump political donations would be very interesting to see.

[duforsure]

53. Lying to get a Visa is a crime.

[FakeNoose]

58. She got a real Visa but it was only temporary

Most "work" Visas are only good for 6 months, and that's probably what she got. The question is how did she get a permanent-status EB-1 green card, when so many other people don't get them? Clearly Trump and his lawyers had something to do with it, because she wouldn't have gotten it on her own.

She's not an Einstein and she hasn't won a Nobel Prize (or any other prize) so she doesn't fit the criteria on the description of the EB-1 Green Card. But even so she got permanent status anyway and now she's managed to get her parents in also. I'm speculating that Trump's lawyers found out how to work this EB-1 angle where there's no quota limit and the requirements are a little loose. Had she applied for EB-2 or HB-2 or any other permanent status she would have waited a long time or else been rejected outright.

I'm not an immigration expert so I could be way off base on this.

[dalton99a]

56. In other words, she really sucks

[onetexan]

57. Melania's extraordinary ability is being able to snag a rich man

whose actually hundreds of millions in debt, lies like its nobody's business, is a sexual predator, and the biggest conman in the world.

[marble falls]

60. Her ability was to look into Trumps eyes without puking.

[Calista241]

64. I absolutely cannot wait for the movie about Trump to come out.

Though i cannot today predict if it’s going to be a tragedy or a comedy.