First lady Melania Trump’s parents were sworn in as U.S. citizens in New York City on Thursday.
Viktor and Amalija Knavs have been living in the United States as permanent residents on green cards.
They arrived and departed from a Manhattan federal building escorted by Homeland Security police.
Just regular: The Knavs got no special treatment in the citizenship process, their attorney said

Now we are citizens: Viktor, left, and Amalija Knavs listen as their attorney Michael Wildes makes a statement in New York on their becoming citizens. They did not speak themselves

Security: Uniformed Federal Protective Services police officers were on hand as the Knavs left the federal building in downtown Manhattan
They got no special treatment during the process, their attorney Michael Wildes said.
‘The application, the process, the interview was no different from anyone else’s other than the security arrangements,’ Wildes said on Thursday.
‘They would appreciate their privacy and we just thank everybody for their attention for this very important dialogue we’re having on immigration. This is an example of it going right,’ he said.
The Knavs have a residence in Maryland, near Barron Trump’s school, to help their daughter and grandson.
They also travel with the first family, having been seen on trips to Camp David and Mar-a-Lago.
Viktor is 74, two years older than President Donald Trump. Amalija is 73.
The first lady, born Melanija Knavs in the then Yugoslavia, changed her name to Melania Knauss when she started modeling.
The Knavs have been on track for citizenship for some time and their attorney has declined to say how or when they obtained their green cards.

New status: Viktor and Amalija Knavs became U.S. citizens on Thursday. They are from Slovenia which allows dual citizenship suggesting they could now have both statuses

Melania Trump has been in Bedminister, N.J., with her husband at his golf course

Viktor Knavs and Amalija Knavs step off Air Force One upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in June

Amalija Knavs, Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Barron Trump, Santa Claus, and Viktor Knavs on Christmas Day at the Mar-a-Lago estate in 2008
Questions about how and when they came to the United States have increased with President Trump’s fiery rhetoric on immigration.
But the first lady’s office has declined to comment on the Knavs.
There are a few methods for immigrants to obtain green cards. The biggest portion of them are distributed through family connections. Others are distributed based on employment – the Knavs are retired – or through a special category such as refugee status.
Melania Trump arrived in New York City in 1996 to model and met Trump two years later.
Wildes, who is also Melania’s attorney, has said she applied for a green card in 2000 based on her ‘extraordinary ability’ as a model.
Melania Trump obtained her green card in 2001 and became a U.S. citizen in 2006.
Immigration experts told The Washington Post earlier this year that Viktor and Amalija Knavs likely relied on the process President Trump has derided as ‘chain migration’ to obtain their green cards.
Trump has proposed ending that options for immigrations in which American citizens and legal permanent residents are able to sponsor family members to come to the United States permanently.
‘CHAIN MIGRATION cannot be allowed to be part of any legislation on Immigration!,’ the president wrote on Twitter on Sept. 15, 2017.
One portion of his four-part immigration plan calls for the end of chain migration.