Democratic Representative Maxine Waters ignited heated discussions during a weekend protest in Los Angeles with her remarks about First Lady Melania Trump's immigration status.
According to Fox News, Waters suggested President Donald Trump should investigate and potentially deport the First Lady while speaking at an anti-Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) rally.
The California congresswoman's comments came as she addressed hundreds of protesters gathered to oppose the Trump administration's recent government downsizing initiatives. Waters questioned the documentation status of Melania Trump's parents while criticizing the president's stance on birthright citizenship.
Melania Trump, who was born in former Yugoslavia, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006, making history as the first naturalized First Lady of the United States. She follows Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, wife of President John Quincy Adams, as only the second foreign-born First Lady in American history.
The First Lady's immigration journey included sponsoring her parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, for green cards and citizenship after securing her own status. Both parents successfully obtained U.S. citizenship in 2018, with Viktor Knavs recently appearing at public events alongside the Trump family following Amalija's passing in 2024.
Waters told the crowd:
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. 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. We don't know whether or not her parents were documented. And maybe we better just take a look.
President Trump's day-one executive order banning birthright citizenship has become a focal point of controversy. The order aims to reinterpret the 14th Amendment by restricting citizenship rights for children born to illegal immigrants or those with temporary non-immigrant visas.
The executive order faces legal challenges and has recently reached the Supreme Court. This development has intensified discussions about immigration policy and constitutional interpretation across the political spectrum.
The rally where Waters made her remarks drew hundreds of protesters to Los Angeles' Wilshire Boulevard. Demonstrators specifically targeted the VA hospital during their march, expressing opposition to the administration's federal agency audits seeking to identify overspending and corruption.
Waters further addressed the protesters with pointed criticism of both President Trump and Elon Musk, stating:
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.
Conservative critics have seized upon Waters' comments about the First Lady, with clips of her speech gaining significant traction across social media platforms. The remarks have sparked particularly intense reactions on TikTok and X, where users have been sharing and commenting on the footage extensively.
Waters' office has not responded to requests for additional comments regarding her statements about the First Lady. The incident has added another layer to ongoing debates about immigration policy and political discourse in Washington.
Representative Maxine Waters' controversial statements about First Lady Melania Trump's immigration status have intensified the already heated debate surrounding immigration policy and government reform. The Democratic congresswoman made these remarks during an anti-DOGE protest in Los Angeles, where hundreds gathered to oppose the Trump administration's federal agency downsizing initiatives. As President Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship continues its journey through the legal system, the Supreme Court's upcoming decision could significantly impact the national conversation on immigration reform and constitutional interpretation.
