[Explained] Why Melania Trump is lying about her immigration status

Donald Trump is the champion of really tough immigration laws. The 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States who "take jobs from Americans, evade taxes (cause terrorism, according to him)" have been a cornerstone of his bid to become US president.

Trump has used his wife, Melania, many times, as the model example of how to follow US immigration laws. She was literally a model, a lithe Slovenian one at that, who came to the US, obtained a visa, then a green card and eventually citizenship.

This is what Melania had to say about her process:

"I came here for my career, and I did so well, I moved here. It never crossed my mind to stay here without papers. That is just the person you are. You follow the rules. You follow the law. Every few months you need to fly back to Europe and stamp your visa. After a few visas, I applied for a green card and got it in 2001. After the green card, I applied for citizenship. And it was a long process." She told Harper's Bazaar in an interview earlier this year.

Also read: [Hilarious] Melania Trump broke the internet while you were sleeping

Donald and Melania have maintained throughout the campaign that she came to the US in 1996, but a recent exposé in New York places her in the city in 1995, corroborating a uncommissioned biography of her, published by a pair of doughty Slovenian journalists earlier this year.

pic.twitter.com/U3VTY05mzc

— MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) August 4, 2016

This statement conveniently forgets to address issues raised about her photos in 1995.

The Hill reports, "... there is no known visa category that would have allowed Mrs Trump to live and work in the United States, and at the same time required that she return to her home country "every few months" to get a new visa "stamp." This kind of visa is a visitor visa which is normally granted on a multiple year basis, allowing a person to stay in the US for a specified amount of time, after which they need to leave the country, and return, if they want to and get freshly stamped at a port of entry. Importantly, one is not allowed to lawfully work while on a visitor visa."

So questions arise about what kind of visa she obtained and why she has been lying about it.

Also read: Even Hillary Clinton and Melania Trump haven't been spared from misogyny

Politico reports about the inconsistencies and raises questions about the fact that the visa she might've obtained, and has lied about, is the one which doesn't allow her to work in the country.

"Instead, Trump's description of her periodic renewals in Europe are more consistent with someone traveling on a B-1 Temporary Business Visitor or B-2 Tourist Visa, which typically last only up to six months and do not permit employment."

Trump has positioned himself as the saviour of Americans from the outside world, but perhaps, he should have focused on saving America from his wife first.

Interestingly, the Republican nominee has a pretty quick trigger on Twitter and issues retorts in a jiffy, but hasn't come up with a statement over this storm in the 24 hours since it was reported.

Given that there is a string of lawsuits chasing The Donald himself, little wonder that murky past wouldn't spare his beloved Melania, the "model Trump".