Melania Trump makes second solo trip to border
First Lady Melania Trump is making her second solo trip to the southern border to visit immigration facilities. The first lady, who visited children and federal immigration authorities in Texas last week, landed in Tucson, Arizona, Thursday.
The first lady, her spokeswoman said, is eager to see what has changed since her last visit. Melania Trump — who President Trump said raised the issue of family separation with him — continues to discuss the border situation with the president, said her communications director, Stephanie Grisham. Grisham did not elaborate on those discussions.
"This is a complex issue. She recognizes that," Grisham told reporters, according to the White House press pool.
While in Tucson, Melania Trump is touring a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, where she is expected to have a roundtable discussion with officials from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the U.S. Marshals Service. Then, according to the White House press pool, she will tour the Tucson Coordinating Center, a short-term holding facilities. The first lady will also do a closed-press tour of an intelligence center.
Grisham said the trip to Tucson was planned last week, after the first lady's trip to Texas was cut short due to flooding.
"She wasn't able to visit a DHS facility, and she wants to learn from the people on the front lines at the border," Grisham told reporters.
On her last trip to the border, the first lady made headlines when she sported a jacket that said, "I don't care, do you?" The first lady didn't wear the jacket when she was with the children, and although her spokesperson said there was no "hidden message," President Trump claimed the jacket was an attempt to hit back at the media. On Thursday when she boarded the plane in D.C., the White House press pool observed nothing unusual about her attire.
