Melania Trump Reportedly Planned to Visit Migrant Children in Texas Before the President Ended Separations
On Thursday, first lady Melania Trump traveled to Texas as part of an unannounced visit to Upbring New Hope Children’s Shelter. There, she reportedly planned to meet with several children who have been separated from their parents at the border.
“I’m glad I’m here and I’m looking forward to seeing the children,” Trump said while seated at a table surrounded by the center’s staff, ABC reported. “But first of all, let me begin to recognize each of you and thank you for all that you do, for your heroic work that you do every day and what you do for those children. We all know they’re here without their families, and I want to thank you for your hard work.”
The facility Trump visited is currently housing an estimated 60 children ranging in age from five to 17, according to a White House pool report. The children are all from Honduras and El Salvador.
Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s communications director, told reporters that Trump asked her staff to plan the visit on Tuesday, just prior to her husband’s decision to sign an executive order ending the family separations.
“This was 100 percent her idea. She absolutely wanted to come,” Grisham said. Even after her husband signed the order, Grisham said the first lady still believed it was important to travel to Texas. “She wants to see what’s happening for herself and she wants to lend her support, executive order or not. The executive order certainly is helping pave the way a little bit, but there’s still a lot to be done.”
PHOTO: Chip Somodevilla
U.S. first lady Melania Trump toured the facility after a roundtable discussion with doctors and social workers at the Upbring New Hope Children’s Center.
The first lady, along with Trump’s daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump, were both said to be instrumental in the president’s decision to sign the executive order.
“Ivanka feels very strongly. My wife feels very strongly about it. I feel very strongly about it,” the president said while he signed the executive order Wednesday, according to ABC. “I think anybody with a heart would feel very strongly about it. We don’t like to see families separated. At the same time, we don’t want people coming into our country illegally. This takes care of the problem.”
Following the signing of the executive order, Ivanka shared her thoughts on social media writing, “Thank you @POTUS for taking critical action ending family separation at our border. Congress must now act and find a lasting solution that is consistent with our shared values; the same values that so many come here seeking as they endeavor to create a better life for their families.”
In a follow-up message sent on Thursday, Ivanka further tweeted, “Now that an EO has been signed ending family separation at the border, it is time to focus on swiftly and safely reuniting the families that have been separated.”
Mrs. Trump isn’t the only first lady to speak out about the separation of families. As ABC noted, all five living former first ladies have publicly condemned the separations. In an op-ed for The Washington Post, former first lady Laura Bush called the separations both “cruel” and “immoral.” Bush added, “Our government should not be in the business of warehousing children in converted box stores or making plans to place them in tent cities in the desert outside of El Paso.”
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