Melania Trump Visits Texas Detention Center at Border Amid Family Separation Crisis

First lady Melania Trump made an unannounced trip to the southern border in Texas on Thursday, where she is was touring a detention center and aimed to help the administration reunite immigrant children and the families they have been separated from.

Trump was seen with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar at the Upbring New Hope Chidlren’s Shelter in McAllen. Her visit comes as the Trump administration works to roll back the family separations at the border that erupted into a crisis.

“I’m here to learn about your facility, and which I know you house children on a long-term basis,” Trump said, asking how she can help “these children to reunite with their families as quickly as possible.”

She also asked employees at the facility about the conditions the children are in when they arrive, how often they are able to speak with their families and how long they are usually kept at the facility before the families are brought back together.

Trump planned to tour two faciliites in McAllen, the children’s shelter and a federal intake center where migrant families stay for a few days, according to a senior government official.

Her spokeswoman said Trump asked her staff on Tuesday to put the trip together.

Her office released this statement: “First Lady Melania Trump has arrived in Texas to take part in briefings and tours at a nonprofit social services center for children who have entered the United States illegally and a customs and border patrol processing center. Her goals are to thank law enforcement and social services providers for their hard work, lend support and hear more on how the administration can build upon the already existing efforts to reunite children with their families.”