First lady Melania Trump made an unannounced trip to the border on Thursday, visiting a children’s shelter in McAllen.
“She supports family reunification,” said Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s communications director, according to a pool report from The Dallas Morning News. “She thinks that it’s important that children stay with their families.”
Trump toured the Upbring New Hope Children’s Shelter, a facility officials said currently houses 55 children between the ages of 12 and 17, according to the pool report. Six of those children had been separated from their parents – the rest had arrived unaccompanied, the officials said. Trump held a roundtable discussion livestreamed by The Washington Post with shelter workers before the tour, thanking them for their “heroic work” taking care of the children and asking how she could help.
At the shelter, Trump visited three classrooms, shaking hands and asking the children questions about themselves, according to the pool report. One child told her she’d been there for two months.
“Be kind and nice to each other, OK?” Trump told the children.
In one classroom, “Welcome! First Lady” was written on the white board, along with a U.S. flag. A child in the classroom told Trump they had been learning how to celebrate the Fourth of July.
The first lady also planned to tour the Ursula Border Patrol Processing Center, but the visit was canceled because of flooding at the center.
As of Wednesday, more than 2,300 immigrant children had been separated from their parents who crossed the border illegally. Changing course on his administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday afternoon halting separations.
The first lady began planning her trip on Tuesday, Grisham told reporters. Grisham said she was not sure whether the first lady had been aware of the president’s upcoming executive order.
“This was her decision,” Grisham said. “She told [the president,] ‘I’m headed down to Texas,’ and he supported it.”
How perfectly disgusting this is. Is this like Eva Braun visiting Auschwitz with a bag of Bagels???
Get a hold of yourself dave.
Perhaps next time the Tribune will include a photo of Mrs. Trump leaving the facility. Apparently she doesn’t really care and she is proud of that. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/melania-trump-wear-jacket-visiting-children-separated-families/
In all fairness, she probably didn’t look at what they write on the back since she is used to slipp8ng her arm into whatever coat is held open for her. Like an elaborate post it note kick me,. The ice princess of homeland security thought it was just like summer camp! What fun. This is really working out for those kids. What with all the rain outside.
Or she knows that liberals and the media will refuse to give her credit for her trip to the border as a good act, so she went ahead and wore clothing expressive of her thoughts about your inevitably negative attitude towards anything she does regardless of where her heart’s at.
What is most concerning to me is reports that apparently there was no system in place to keep track of the 2000+ children already removed from their parents. Some are too young to even know their parents’ names, other than Mama & Papa. They are spread all over the map. I worry that they will never be reconnected with family, but end up fostered out & later adopted by well-meaning childless couples who just want to help. Same thing happened in 2005 with the thousands of pets rescued in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, flown enmasse to shelters all over the US & quickly adopted by nice people who also wanted to help, despite the fact these pets already had loving families desperately searching the shelters & internet praying they could find their lost pets. Heartbreaking enough when it’s just pets we’re talking about. More than heartbreaking if the same thing happens to peoples’ kids. And I’m afraid it will. Makes me ashamed to be an American. Please donate to Raices’ fund to reunite families!
I am blown away by the lack of comments about the bottom line of this abomination! How much does this COST the taxpayers of this country????? Come on all you conservatives who think this is okay, it hurts your pocketbook too!!!!
The fault lies with our legislators who fail to pass laws that regulate how money is spent on non-citizens. Believe me, Mexico knows how. I am sure Central American countries do too.