Ivanka Trump publicly pushed her father’s administration to reunite families that have been separated by the president’s ‘zero-tolerance’ policy on Thursday.
The first daughter, who is also a senior White House official, said that ‘it is time to focus’ on reunification in the wake of President Trump’s executive order directing his administration to keep newly arrived parents and children together.
‘Now that an EO has been signed ending family separation at the border, it is time to focus on swiftly and safely reuniting the families that have been separated,’ she tweeted.
Ivanka Trump publicly pushed her father’s administration to reunite families that have been separated by the president’s ‘zero-tolerance’ policy on Thursday
![Ivanka Trump, daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump, watches as Trump answers questions after signing an executive order that will end the practice of separating family members who are apprehended while illegally entering the United States on Wednesday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/21/17/4D758D6700000578-0-image-a-37_1529599214921.jpg)
Ivanka Trump, daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump, watches as Trump answers questions after signing an executive order that will end the practice of separating family members who are apprehended while illegally entering the United States on Wednesday
![The first daughter, who is also a senior White House official, said that 'it is time to focus' on reunification in the wake of President Trump's executive order directing his administration to keep newly arrived parents and children together](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/21/17/4D74839D00000578-0-image-a-32_1529599068756.jpg)
The first daughter, who is also a senior White House official, said that ‘it is time to focus’ on reunification in the wake of President Trump’s executive order directing his administration to keep newly arrived parents and children together
![Trump's daughter and his wife urged the administration to take action reunite the families as soon as possible](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/21/17/4D74D93100000578-0-image-a-38_1529600318313.jpg)
Trump’s daughter and his wife urged the administration to take action reunite the families as soon as possible
The Department of Health and Human Services said after the president’s order that the children would not be immediately reunited with their parents. HHS reversed course in a later statement, saying it was awaiting further guidance.
Trump’s daughter and his wife urged the administration to take action reunite the families as soon as possible.
Melania Trump also said Thursday through a spokeswoman that she supports family reunification but did not offer a timetable.
‘She supports family reunification. She thinks that it’s important that children stay with their families,’ the first lady’s communications director, Stephanie Grisham said.
The first lady made a surprise visit to the border on Thursday that the usually leaky White House was able to keep a secret until it wanted it announced.
She visited a McAllen, Texas, detention center and visited with migrant children.
‘This was 100 percent her idea. She absolutely wanted to come,’ Grisham said. ;She wants to see what’s happening for herself and she wants to lend her support, executive order or not. The executive order certainly is helping pave the way a little bit, but there’s still a lot to be done.’
President Donald Trump yesterday signed an executive order ending family separation at the border.
The president, in an abrupt U-turn on the divisive policy put into place by his own administration, directed the Department of Homeland Security to detain families together so long as children are not put into danger.
‘I didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated,’ the president on Wednesday stated.
President Trump indicated that lobbying from his daughter Ivanka, who showed him pictures of the caged and kenneled children, and wife Melania had caused him to have a change in position.
‘Ivanka feels very strongly about it. My wife feels very strongly about it. I feel very strongly about it. I think anybody with a heart would feel very strongly about it,’ he said.
It was President Trump who tipped reporters off to Melania’s presence at the border.
‘My wife, our first lady, is down now at the border, because it really bothered her to be looking at this and seeing it, as it did me,’ he said at a Cabinet meeting minutes before the first lady’s office lifted an embargo on Melania’s unannounced visit.
Melania’s spokeswoman indicated to reporters on the trip that the first lady had been very vocal in pushing back on family separation and had been in her husband’s ear about reunification.
‘I’m sure she’s going to continue to give her husband opinions on what she’s thinking should happen,’ Grisham said. ‘I’m sure she’ll continue to let her husband know her opinions. She does that often.’
![President Trump indicated yesterday that lobbying from his daughter Ivanka, who showed him pictures of the caged and kenneled children, and wife Melania had caused him to have a change in position](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/21/17/4D75BCA600000578-0-image-a-35_1529599141510.jpg)
President Trump indicated yesterday that lobbying from his daughter Ivanka, who showed him pictures of the caged and kenneled children, and wife Melania had caused him to have a change in position
Immediately after her father signed the order, Ivanka made her first public comments on the matter.
‘Thank you @POTUS for taking critical action ending family separation at our border,’ she said. ‘Congress must now act + find a lasting solution that is consistent with our shared values; the same values that so many come here seeking as they endeavor to create a better life for their families.’
The president said Congress would have to take action – and that he still wants his border wall funded.
‘And also, there may be some litigation. We’re also wanting to go through Congress. We will be going through Congress. We’re working on a much more comprehensive bill,’ he said. ‘And ultimately, we want to see it done right, and it will be done right.’
Of the order he’d just signed, he said, ‘You’re gonna have a lot of happy people.’
‘People haven’t dealt with it, and we are dealing with it…This is one that has gone on for many decades. So we’re keeping families together, and this will solve that problem,’ he stated.
‘At the same time, we are keeping a very powerful border and it continues to be a zero-tolerance,’ he added. ‘We have zero tolerance for people that enter our country illegally.’
![A view of inside U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention facility shows children at Rio Grande Valley Centralized Processing Center in Rio Grande City, Texas](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/21/17/4D6D35F700000578-0-image-a-34_1529599101642.jpg)
A view of inside U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention facility shows children at Rio Grande Valley Centralized Processing Center in Rio Grande City, Texas
As Trump acknowledged, he did not end the ‘zero tolerance’ provision of his policy that requires the prosecution of all unlawful immigrants as criminals. His order merely authorizes DHS to hold families together while prosecution is pending.
DHS will bear the costs of constructing facilities to house migrant parents and their children while their cases are being adjudicated. The order directs the attorney general to prioritize the cases as quickly as possible.
Trump also told Attorney General Jeff Sessions to put in a request with a U.S. District Court in California to modify a settlement agreement that would permit DHS under present resource constraints to detain illegal immigrant families together ‘throughout the pendency of criminal proceedings for improper entry or any removal or other immigration proceedings.’
The president tipped his hand earlier on Wednesday when he said that he would be signing something dealing with the issue as he spoke to reporters in the Cabinet room.