First lady tours Ariz. facilities for migrants
Melania Trump tells shelter staff, ‘I want to support you’
First lady Melania Trump toured a Border Patrol facility in Tucson and a migrant shelter in Phoenix on Thursday in a pair of visits designed to change the narrative around the controversial border policy of separating children from their families.
This was Trump’s first visit to Arizona as first lady.
The first lady’s trip to the state wasn’t overshadowed by her clothing, as it was last week, when she visited Texas.
She stepped off the plane at DavisMonthan Air Force Base in Tucson on Thursday morning wearing a black top with three-quarter-length sleeves, white flowy pants and white sneakers. Large black sunglasses shielded her eyes from the Arizona sun.
She caused a controversy last week when she wore an olive jacket that read, “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” on a trip to a migrant children’s shelter in McAllen, Texas.
At the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in Tucson, the first lady greeted law-enforcement officials, thanked them for their hard work and said she wants to help children.
Trump asked how often agents en-
counter children who are crossing the border unaccompanied and how young they are.
She was told 1,100 unaccompanied children had entered at the Arizona ports of entry since October.
Michael Humphries, assistant director of field operations for the Tucson field office, told Trump there are a lot of misconceptions about the separations of families. He said child separations are typically short.
“We give the utmost care. … We had a female that was 16 years old, was raped on the journey up from Central America,” he said. “She had the baby here in our custody. We took her to the hospital, stayed with her the whole time.” Trump shook her head at the story. Rodolfo Karisch, chief agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, showed Trump a picture of a 6-year-old boy from Costa Rica whom agents rescued in June.
Karisch said agents found the boy holding a Coke bottle and carrying a note.
“People also have to understand the dangers of the desert, of the heat, of the violence that exists out there,” Karisch told Trump. “This is something that our people encounter on a daily basis.”
Trump shook her head after looking at the photos.
“It’s incredible, as young as 6 years old, you know, someone would leave them,” she said. “Wow, very sad.”
Agents found the boy in the Lukeville area, just north of the border, according to a news release. The child told agents his uncle dropped him off there, telling him the Border Patrol would pick him up, the release said.
The boy said he was on his way to see his mother, who lives in the United States, the agency said.
The boy was in good condition and was taken to Tucson for processing, the agency said.
The first lady did not leave Davis-Monthan Air Force Base during her stop in Tucson.
Protesters had gathered outside the Oracle Road detention center in anticipation of her arrival.
One woman stood outside with a sign that read, “Children Jailed Here.”
In Phoenix, about three dozen protesters gathered Thursday afternoon in triple-digit temperatures outside the Southwest Key migrant facility, an education and human-services complex near 27th and Campbell avenues.
A giant, balloonlike figure of President Donald Trump in a Ku Klux Klan outfit towered over the protesters.
Inside, the tour was led into what appeared to be a classroom. Teaching material about the solar system hung on the walls, as did number and alphabet charts.
Southwest Key Vice President Alexia Jo Rodriguez told the first lady that the staff is composed “mainly of immigrants themselves.” The facility receives grant money from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“The primary work we do here is to try to do a safe reunification,” she said.
On Thursday, the facility housed 121 children, ranging from infants to age 17. Four of the babies had mothers at the shelter, and four were pregnant teens. The majority of the children were from Guatemala, with children also from Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico.
“I want to support you, and let me know what I can do to help,” Trump said to the staff.
Southwest Key staff members walked her through the process the shelter goes through when a child enters the facility.
A supervisor over the facility’s case managers told Trump that staff immediately assures the child that he or she is not in a detention facility, but instead is in a shelter. A case manager then makes two phone calls, one to the child’s home country and another to relatives in the United States, informing each of the steps to take to begin the process of getting the child reunited with family.
Trump asked how long children stay at the facility and was told the average was 47 days.
“And then you connect them with the family?” she asked.
A supervisor answered yes. “Thank you for taking care of the children,” Trump said.
Reporters were then told they could accompany Trump on her tour but could only take notes, not pictures or video.
The tour was led into a room that included the usual trappings of a nursery, including a baby swing and two yellow rocking chairs.
The first lady walked in, and a little girl zoomed toward her.
“Nice to meet you,” she laughed. She greeted staffers and the children. “Where are the moms?” she asked. One was pointed out to her. “Where is your baby?” she asked the girl, who pointed out a boy who was 14 months old.
“Wow, so cute,” the first lady said. The girl said she had been at the shelter for 12 days.
Protesters lined the street outside the Southwest Key facility in Phoenix, carrying handmade signs and shouting.
“Melania Trump, you can’t hide, we can see your racist side,” they repeatedly chanted in unison at one point.
Shortly before 1:30 p.m., the first lady’s motorcade left the facility. Some protesters ran toward the caravan, but a law-enforcement official admonished them to “stay on the sidewalk.”
“(Expletive) Trump,” one person yelled.
“Detaining them is not helping them,” another person chanted repeatedly.
Milagros Renteria, 15, of Phoenix said she showed up to protest because “they’ve been separating children from their parents, and the children deserve to be reunified with families.”
Protesters started dispersing after Trump’s motorcade left the migrant facility. Her plane left Phoenix at 2:06 p.m., heading west over downtown Phoenix.