As President Donald Trump accelerates a sweeping mass deportation campaign targeting undocumented immigrants and naturalized citizens, a viral petition is calling for the deportation of First Lady Melania Trump and her family.
The petition, launched on MoveOn—a progressive advocacy platform—has ignited public debate over what critics call glaring double standards in the administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
The petition, titled “Melania Needs To Go,” has garnered thousands of signatures in recent days. It argues that if President Trump is serious about removing naturalized citizens as part of his national security strategy, his wife—who immigrated from Slovenia and became a U.S. citizen in 2006—should not be exempt. The petition also targets her father, Viktor Knavs, and her son, Barron Trump, calling him an “anchor baby” in a clear jab at Trump’s own use of the term in prior rhetoric.
“If this is truly about national security, then Melania needs to go,” the petition reads. “There should be no exceptions! On the first boat or flight out!”
A similar petition on Change.Org titled “Call for Investigating Melania Trump’s Eligibility for US Citizenship,” has also garnered substantial signatures.
The surge in signatures comes just weeks after President Trump’s new executive order, signed on his first day back in office, aims to reinterpret the 14th Amendment and curtail birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders. The controversial order is currently under judicial review.
Critics say the petition reflects a broader frustration with what many view as hypocritical applications of immigration law. In 2018, The New York Times reported that Melania Trump used “chain migration”—a term President Trump has criticized—to sponsor her parents for green cards and eventual U.S. citizenship. Her mother, Amalija Knavs, passed away in 2024, but her father continues to appear at family events, including Trump campaign stops and state functions.
The controversy escalated further after Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) addressed the issue at a March 25 protest in Los Angeles. Speaking against Trump’s downsizing of federal agencies and immigration policy, Waters stated:
“Maybe [Trump] ought to first look at Melania. We don’t know whether or not her parents were documented. Maybe we better just take a look.”
Videos of her remarks, which took place during an anti-DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) protest on Wilshire Boulevard, quickly spread across TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), drawing fierce backlash from conservative commentators and GOP lawmakers.
Despite the uproar, legal experts say the petition is symbolic and unlikely to result in any action.
“Naturalized citizens, including the First Lady, enjoy the same legal protections as any American-born citizen, unless evidence of fraud in the naturalization process is discovered,” said one immigration attorney familiar with the issue. “The law does not allow for retroactive deportation based solely on political disagreement.”
Still, the controversy underscores the tension in the national discourse around immigration—particularly when policy affects the powerful differently than the average citizen.
President Trump’s mass deportation plan is part of a broader campaign promise to restore what he calls “law and order” to the U.S. immigration system.
Critics argue that the plan is creating a climate of fear among immigrant communities, including those who are naturalized citizens or have lived in the country for decades.
