Melania Trump makes trip to border 'on behalf of children and the families'

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Melania Trump arrives in Arizona to visit migrant facility

First lady returns to U.S.-Mexico border; White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short reacts to the visit, Justice Kennedy's retirement and the Russia probe.

First Lady Melania Trump met with members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thursday morning during her second visit in recent days to the border with Mexico amid a mounting immigration crisis.

At a roundtable with officials near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, Mrs. Trump voiced her concern for the children and families who have arrived at the U.S. southern border from Central America, but also added her support for the CBP and ICE agents working along the border.

“I know how dangerous it is and difficult it is,” she said. “I appreciate your work.”

She added: "I'm here to support you and give my help, whatever I can," on "behalf of children and the families."

During the roundtable, the first lady questioned officials about the number of children coming across the border alone, their ages and how they are cared for before moving on to tour an immigration facility in Arizona.

This was the first lady's second visit to the border in as many weeks as part of the White House’s response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis involving thousands of migrants attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally.

Mrs. Trump earlier traveled to the border town of McAllen, Texas, to meet with officials there dealing with detained families. She also met with children at one of the facilities.

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But that trip was overshadowed by a jacket the first lady wore to and from Texas that said on the back: "I really don't care, do u?"

The first lady's spokeswoman said it was just a jacket, with no hidden message, but interest in her fashion choice was a distraction from Mrs. Trump's trip. Her husband, President Donald Trump, undercut the no-message message by tweeting that his wife was saying she really doesn't care about the "fake news" media.

This time the first lady boarded her plane wearing a black shirt and white slacks for the flight.

Mrs. Trump traveled amid upheaval over her husband's hard-line approach to immigration and evidence of increasing urgency over how that's playing out.

More than 2,300 children have been separated from their parents at the border in recent weeks and some were placed in government-contracted shelters hundreds of miles away from their parents.

The president last week signed an executive order to halt the separation of families at the border, at least for a few weeks, but the order did not address the reunification of families already separated.

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered that thousands of migrant children and parents be reunited within 30 days -- and sooner if the youngster is under five. The order poses logistical problems for the administration, and it was unclear how it would meet the deadline.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.