Melania Trump visits Texas facilities housing migrant children

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

First lady Melania Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar (L) listen during a roundtable meeting at the Lutheran Social Services of the South “Upbring New Hope Children’s Center” near the U.S.-Mexico border in McAllen Texas, June 21, 2018.

A spokesperson for the first lady said the trip was “100 percent her idea. She absolutely wanted to come,” NBC reported. President Donald Trump was the first to announce that his wife was “at the border.” He made the remarks to reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

The facility houses some 60 children, ages 12 to 17.

The first lady is expected to visit one other facility housing children detained as a result of the “zero tolerance” policy put forth by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in April.

After administration officials repeatedly said that only Congress could end the separations of children from families illegally crossing the border, Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday aimed at doing just that.

The zero tolerance policy that aims to prosecute every migrant entering the U.S. illegally, including those with children, however, has not been changed.