# Melanie Trump working illegally **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 5, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melanie-trump-working-illegally/770749 "2016-11-05T20:26:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melanie-trump-working-illegally/770749/1 "2016-11-05T20:26:36Z")
[It seems that there is more evidence](http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/melania-trump-was-paid-20000-for-10-modelling-jobs-in-the-u-s-before-she-had-a-permit-to-work)that Melania Trump worked illegally in the US. She made $20,000 in modeling fees for work done in the US before she had her green card. What actual consequences (if any) do people think she will face? 1. Nothing - there will be no actual investigation, and it will fade away after the election 2. Nothing - she’s a rich, connected person, and the immigration laws are meant to deter those “other” people, not rich pretty models. 3. Nothing - it’s political, and the Democrats will not want to appear petty or attacking 4. Nothing - She did nothing wrong, so there does not need to be any investigation 5. Nothing - We need to concentrate all our energies into removing Hillary Clinton from the White House (Republican default position) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melanie-trump-working-illegally/770749/2 "2016-11-05T20:28:49Z")
Statute of limitations would have run out on this at least a decade ago. It’s political theatre meant to hurt her husband. I pick option 1 ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melanie-trump-working-illegally/770749/3 "2016-11-05T20:30:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Statute of limitations would have run out on this a decade ago. > > It’s political theatre meant to hurt her husband. So let’s make that 6) 1. It was a long time ago, and has nothing to do with her husband’s anti-immigration platform - his enemies are just trying to hurt him. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melanie-trump-working-illegally/770749/4 "2016-11-05T20:31:03Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > [It seems that there is more evidence](http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/melania-trump-was-paid-20000-for-10-modelling-jobs-in-the-u-s-before-she-had-a-permit-to-work)that Melania Trump worked illegally in the US. She made $20,000 in modeling fees for work done in the US before she had her green card. > > What actual consequences (if any) do people think she will face? > > 1. Nothing - there will be no actual investigation, and it will fade away after the election > 2. Nothing - she’s a rich, connected person, and the immigration laws are meant to deter those “other” people, not rich pretty models. > 3. Nothing - it’s political, and the Democrats will not want to appear petty or attacking > 4. Nothing - She did nothing wrong, so there does not need to be any investigation > 5. Nothing - We need to concentrate all our energies into removing Hillary Clinton from the White House (Republican default position) What is the difference between 1 and 2? There will be no investigation - she’s rich and connected, and laws are for the poors - so it will fade away after the election. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melanie-trump-working-illegally/770749/5 "2016-11-05T20:32:35Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > So let’s make that 6) > > 1. It was a long time ago, and has nothing to do with her husband’s anti-immigration platform - his enemies are just trying to hurt him. You say that as if it were a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melanie-trump-working-illegally/770749/6 "2016-11-05T20:35:22Z")
She’s already a naturalized citizen, and there’s no evidence it was obtained fraudulently. Of course it makes the Trump’s liars and hypocrites but who didn’t know that already? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melanie-trump-working-illegally/770749/7 "2016-11-05T20:57:59Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > She’s already a naturalized citizen, and there’s no evidence it was obtained fraudulently. Of course it makes the Trump’s liars and hypocrites but who didn’t know that already? I think that when you become a naturalized citizen, you are asked at some point if you have every broken any immigration laws (eg. working without a green card). If you answer “no”, but you really did work without a green card, then this would mean you obtained your citizenship fraudulently, with a lie. Not completely sure about this though. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melanie-trump-working-illegally/770749/8 "2016-11-05T21:08:12Z")
So we could deport her and when he tries to come back from Slovenia after dropping her off, not let him into the country? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melanie-trump-working-illegally/770749/9 "2016-11-05T21:09:09Z")
Read elsewhere– _Sometime in the early 2000_ Trump: I hate illegal aliens. Meliana: I hate cyberbullies _Eyes lock_ ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melanie-trump-working-illegally/770749/10 "2016-11-05T22:06:28Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I think that when you become a naturalized citizen, you are asked at some point if you have every broken any immigration laws (eg. working without a green card). If you answer “no”, but you really did work without a green card, then this would mean you obtained your citizenship fraudulently, with a lie. > > Not completely sure about this though. She could probably argue that she didn’t realize she was breaking the law, and in any case, I suspect the number of prosecutions over something like this are pretty rare. People probably do this all the time. Not saying I approve, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melanie-trump-working-illegally/770749/11 "2016-11-05T23:16:34Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > She could probably argue that she didn’t realize she was breaking the law, and in any case, I suspect the number of prosecutions over something like this are pretty rare. People probably do this all the time. Not saying I approve, of course. That’s a great plan. Reminds me of a [Steve Martin sketch…](http://snltranscripts.jt.org/77/77imono.phtml) > [@](#): > > How many times do we let ourselves get into terrible situations because we don’t say “I forgot”? Let’s say you’re on trial for armed robbery. You say to the judge, “I forgot armed robbery was illegal.” Let’s suppose he says back to you, “You have committed a foul crime. you have stolen hundreds and thousands of dollars from people at random, and you say, ‘I forgot’?”