Waters Calls For Melania’s Deportation In Anti-Trump Tirade

Man in a suit with an American flag pin.

Rep. Maxine Waters stunned crowds at a Los Angeles rally by suggesting President Trump should start his deportation efforts with First Lady Melania Trump, exposing the shocking hypocrisy of Democratic immigration rhetoric.

Key Takeaways

California Rep. Maxine Waters publicly suggested that President Trump should consider deporting his wife, Melania Trump, a naturalized U.S. citizen, during a rally protesting DACA program cuts.
Waters questioned the documentation status of Melania’s parents, despite them becoming U.S. citizens legally in 2018 after Melania sponsored their green cards.
The inflammatory comments came as courts have temporarily halted President Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship, which aims to restrict citizenship to children of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
Melania Trump immigrated legally to the United States through a visa specifically designed for individuals with “extraordinary ability,” undermining Waters’ deportation suggestion.
Waters’ outburst represents the latest in a pattern of incendiary rhetoric from Democrats opposing the administration’s immigration enforcement policies.

Waters’ Inflammatory Rhetoric Against the First Lady

At a Los Angeles rally protesting changes to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Representative Maxine Waters unleashed a shocking tirade against the First Family. Waters suggested that President Trump should begin his immigration enforcement with his own wife, despite Melania being a naturalized U.S. citizen who immigrated legally from Slovenia. The California Democrat’s comments represent a new low in political discourse, as attacking a legally-immigrated First Lady breaks longstanding norms of civility in American politics.

“‘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,'” Waters said at the rally, according to reporting from multiple sources. Waters went further by questioning the documentation status of Melania’s parents, who became U.S. citizens in 2018 through legal channels after Melania sponsored their green cards – a process critics call “chain migration” but which is perfectly legal under current immigration law.

Rep. Maxine Waters attacked President Donald Trump’s mass deportation push over the weekend, suggesting that he should “first look at Melania.”https://t.co/e51m3vDfMe

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) March 26, 2025

The Legal Reality vs. Political Theater

Waters’ outburst demonstrates either a profound misunderstanding of immigration law or a willful distortion for political gain. Melania Trump obtained her citizenship legally, following all proper procedures. She immigrated to the United States on an EB-1 visa, commonly known as the “Einstein visa” reserved for individuals with “extraordinary ability.” This completely undermines Waters’ suggestion that the First Lady should be subject to deportation. The congresswoman’s comments appear designed to create outrage rather than engage in substantive policy discussion.

“When he [Trump] talks about birthright, and he’s going to undo the fact that the Constitution allows those who are born here, even if the parents are undocumented, they have a right to stay in America,” Maxine Waters said.

Waters’ comments came in response to President Trump’s executive order addressing birthright citizenship, which aims to restrict automatic citizenship to children born to U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. This order, currently paused by federal courts, represents the administration’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment. While legal scholars debate the constitutionality of this approach, Waters’ response bypassed substantive legal arguments in favor of personal attacks on the First Family.

Chain Migration Controversy

Adding to the irony of Waters’ comments is the timing of Melania Trump’s family immigration relative to the President’s policies. In 2018, Melania’s parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, became U.S. citizens through a family sponsorship process that President Trump has publicly criticized. This timing led to accusations of hypocrisy from immigration advocates, a sentiment Waters appeared to echo in her comments, though without acknowledging that the process Melania’s parents followed was entirely legal under current law.

“CHAIN MIGRATION must end now! Some people come in, and they bring their whole family with them, who can be truly evil. NOT ACCEPTABLE,” Trump said.

The Trump administration has made immigration enforcement a cornerstone policy, pursuing stricter border control and deportation measures for those in the country illegally. However, Waters’ suggestion that these policies should apply to legally-naturalized citizens like Melania Trump demonstrates a fundamental mischaracterization of administration policies, which focus on illegal immigration rather than legal immigrants who have followed proper channels to citizenship.

The Pattern of Democratic Hyperbole

Waters’ comments reflect a broader pattern among Democratic lawmakers who have increasingly resorted to inflammatory rhetoric rather than substantive policy debate. By suggesting the deportation of a naturalized U.S. citizen and First Lady, Waters has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum. Border Czar Tom Homan quickly dismissed Waters’ comments as absurd, highlighting that Melania Trump’s immigration story actually exemplifies the legal pathways to citizenship that the administration supports.

As federal courts continue to evaluate the administration’s immigration policies, including the executive order on birthright citizenship, Americans deserve a fact-based, substantive debate about these complex issues. Instead, comments like those from Rep. Waters demonstrate how far some politicians will go to score political points, even when it means suggesting outrageous actions against the First Lady that would violate both the law and basic principles of decency in political discourse.