It’s been widely reported that Trump has diminished the importance of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by saying he’s not a U.S. citizen. When he said that at a press conference, somebody said that Khashoggi was a “permanent resident.” Subsequently, it has been widely reported that Khashoggi was a U.S. permanent resident, that is, a lawful immigrant, who would be eligible for U.S. citizenship in a few years. Other reports say he fled from KSA in September 2017 after threats from the royal family, which had been taken over by dictator MSB.
But I’m puzzled by this. I’ve been a U.S. immigration lawyer for more than 30 years. If he arrived in the United States just about one year ago, how could he possibly already have a green card? I don’t think that’s possible, especially under the draconian rules of the Trump regime. I think it’s more likely he came in on a tourist visa, or a long-time I journalist visa, and then applied for a green card. Or he might even have applied for political asylum. But he’d still be long from an actual green card.
Does anybody have any knowledge about this?
Obviously his immigration status is irrelevant to the atrocity of his murder. But it’s good to be precise when standing up against Trump regime lies. It seems clear he was in some kind of lawful U.S. visa status, but I’m very curious to know what it was.