White privilege benefits Trump's in-laws: Analyst

While people of color struggle for immigration, US President Donald Trump’s wealthy, white relatives walk through the door, says Myles Hoenig, an American political analyst and activist. 

Hoenig, a former Green Party candidate for Congress, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Friday while commenting on a report which says the Slovenian-born parents of Melania Trump became US citizens at a naturalization ceremony in New York on Thursday, taking advantage of a family reunification program Trump has vehemently denounced.

Trump's in-laws Viktor and Amalija Knavs took the oath of citizenship, their immigration lawyer Michael Wildes confirmed to AFP.

Asked by The New York Times if they had obtained citizenship under a program derisively branded "chain migration" by the president, Wildes replied: "I suppose."

PressTV-Trump's in-laws become US citizens using 'chain migration'

The parents of Melania Trump have become US citizens, taking advantage of a family reunification program President Donald Trump has vehemently denounced.

“There are many ways of looking at the story of Melania Trump’s parents receiving US citizenship through the chain migration program, something President Trump vehemently rejects,” Hoenig said.

“The president could have stopped it but not doing so simply shows another example of his extreme hypocrisy in all matters related to family. Melania Trump and the president are so removed from each other that such a thing may have by-passed the president’s knowledge or concern. Or that the president has shown his outright bigotry in supporting a white family versus all those coming to the US from Central America, in particular, seeking asylum for themselves and family back home. And of course, all three,” he stated.

“In the bigger picture, this is likely to be a one-day embarrassment that the president will easily ride out. There are bigger news items for the nation to be concerned about, namely the US increasing pressure and sanctions on nuclear powered Russia, the fires in California, the upcoming mid-term elections, and maybe Justin Bieber will do something that CNN will devote an hour to as breaking news as it has done in the past in order to break from more important and relevant news that challenged their usual narrative of the day’s big story,” he noted.

“Chain migration has saved millions of lives over this past century. The Statue of Liberty screams for it, calling on all people oppressed to come here. Jews escaping pogroms in Russia, Italians suffering economic hardships, Cubans escaping a new revolutionary government, and now Central Americans escaping the economic exploitation and murderous governments sanctioned by the US are seeking refuge here as well, and as well as hundreds of thousands of people from all other parts of the world,” the analyst stated.

“What allowed the Knavs to easily go through the process through chain migration was simply based on wealth, who you know, and white privilege. That’s how it’s done here in the US. All others have to struggle and risk everything, sometimes their lives, to make their lives and the lives of their family members more assured of survival. Being wealthy, white, and having connections is a given ticket to nearly anything in America,” he concluded.

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