Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has raised concerns about First Lady Melania Trump’s immigration history while speaking at an anti-DOGE demonstration in Los Angeles, California. She urged President Donald Trump to scrutinize his own family’s immigration documentation before enforcing strict citizenship policies.
Addressing protesters gathered to oppose the Trump administration’s government efficiency measures, Waters referred to the president’s recent executive order that targets birthright citizenship.
“When he 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,” Waters told the crowd. “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 congresswoman from California questioned whether the first lady’s parents were properly documented and suggested, “maybe we better just take a look.”
The comments come amid legal challenges to President Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship. Signed on his first day in office, the order aims to narrowly interpret the 14th Amendment by excluding children of illegal immigrants or those with temporary non-immigrant visas from automatic citizenship. The administration has appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Melania Trump, originally from what was then Yugoslavia (now Slovenia), became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006. She is the first naturalized citizen to serve as first lady and only the second first lady born outside the United States, the first being Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, wife of President John Quincy Adams.
After securing her citizenship, the first lady sponsored her Slovenian parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, for legal permanent residency and citizenship. They became U.S. citizens in 2018. Following the passing of Amalija earlier this year, Viktor Knavs has been seen at various public events with the Trump family, including sitting with his grandson Barron during the presidential inauguration.
Waters’ remarks have sparked widespread reactions on social media, with conservative critics condemning her statements regarding the first lady.
The protest, which included a march to the VA hospital on Wilshire Boulevard, focused on opposing the Department of Government Efficiency’s initiatives to cut federal spending and identify potential waste and corruption within government agencies.
“We are here because we are not going to let Trump, we’re not going to let Elon Musk, his co-president, or anybody else take the United States Constitution down,” Waters declared during her address.
The protest took place as the first lady continues her advocacy work, including promoting the Take It Down Act, a piece of legislation aimed at protecting children from online targeting. The initiative has been featured on programs like “Fox & Friends,” emphasizing Melania Trump’s dedication to child safety issues.
Waters, a long-standing critic of the Trump administration, has represented California’s 43rd congressional district since 2013 and has served in Congress since 1991, making her one of the longest-serving members of the House of Representatives.
This controversy highlights the ongoing tensions surrounding immigration policy, which remains a key element of President Trump’s political agenda in his second term.