section_path: First tenure as First Lady of the United States (2017–2021)/Political influence/Family separation policy
section_name: Family separation policy
paragraph_text: Family separation policy
  
  Melania was openly critical of her husband's "zero tolerance" policy of denying asylum at the Mexico–United States border in 2018, where children were being separated from their parents. Her official position was that she hated to see families separated and hoped for successful immigration reform. Out of public view, she made her opposition clear to the president and influenced his decision to end it. Leaked tapes in 2020 featured Melania making statements defending some of the practices, expressing grief about family separation but questioning the validity of asylum claims and dismissing concerns that children were kept in substandard conditions.
  
  Melania was upset when her stepdaughter Ivanka began receiving the credit for changing the president's mind on the issue. Melania decided to visit the border herself, ignoring her husband's worries about keeping media attention on the border and the Secret Service's need of advance notice to plan her trip. She arrived at the border on June 21, where she visited the family separation facilities in Texas and attended a roundtable with doctors, medical staff, social workers, and other experts at Upbring New Hope Children's Shelter. On the way to the border facility, she caused controversy by wearing a jacket that read, "I really don't care, do u?" After much speculation about the jacket's message, including criticism that she may have been expressing indifference toward the families separated at the border, Melania stated that the jacket was aimed at people and media who were criticizing her. The jacket dominated media coverage of her visit.
  
  Melania was openly critical of her husband's "zero tolerance" policy of denying asylum at the Mexico–United States border in 2018, where children were being separated from their parents. Her official position was that she hated to see families separated and hoped for successful immigration reform. Out of public view, she made her opposition clear to the president and influenced his decision to end it. Leaked tapes in 2020 featured Melania making statements defending some of the practices, expressing grief about family separation but questioning the validity of asylum claims and dismissing concerns that children were kept in substandard conditions.
  
  Melania was upset when her stepdaughter Ivanka began receiving the credit for changing the president's mind on the issue. Melania decided to visit the border herself, ignoring her husband's worries about keeping media attention on the border and the Secret Service's need of advance notice to plan her trip. She arrived at the border on June 21, where she visited the family separation facilities in Texas and attended a roundtable with doctors, medical staff, social workers, and other experts at Upbring New Hope Children's Shelter. On the way to the border facility, she caused controversy by wearing a jacket that read, "I really don't care, do u?" After much speculation about the jacket's message, including criticism that she may have been expressing indifference toward the families separated at the border, Melania stated that the jacket was aimed at people and media who were criticizing her. The jacket dominated media coverage of her visit.