Melania Trump Visits Border Facilities in Surprise Trip

Melania Trump made a surprise visit to border facilities on Thursday to see things first-hand. "I'm looking forward to seeing the children," the first lady said upon arrival at a Customs processing center in McAllen, Texas, reports USA Today. The unannounced trip comes a day after her husband ended his administration's separation of immigrant families at the border. "She's seen the images. She's heard the recordings," says the first lady's spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, per the Dallas Morning News. "The images struck her, as a mother, as a human being."

Among her stops was a facility holding about 60 immigrant children, about six of whom were separated from their parents under the now-rescinded policy, reports CNN. "I want to thank you for your hard work, your compassion and your kindness," she told workers at Upbring New Hope. Grisham says the trip was entirely Melania Trump's idea, adding that the first lady informed the president on Tuesday, and he was supportive of it. "As with a many topics she will continue to give her husband her opinions," says Grisham. (The first lady previously spoke out against the separations.)