Melania Trump's Jacket Is Focus Of Texas Visit For Immigrant Kids

First lady Melania Trump made a surprise visit to a Texas detention facility for immigrant children on Thursday. The visit was reportedly Mrs. Trump's own idea and appeared to be going well till The Daily Mail pointed out that the first lady was wearing a jacket with the words "I really don't care. Do u?" printed in thick white font on the back.

Given the current context surrounding the immigrant children separated from their families at the southwestern border, the message on the back of the jacket is striking. Over 2,000 children are reported to have been separated from their families due to the Trump administration's zero-tolerance policy on illegal immigration. And various reports from within the facilities where these children are staying paint a grim picture of the conditions.

On Thursday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered state officials to probe claims of physical abuse at a juvenile detention facility where immigrant youth are being housed. Northam ordered the probe after The Associated Press reported on the allegations at the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center. In audio obtained by ProPublica from inside a CBP facility, young children could be heard screaming for their parents. And reporters who toured one detention facility in Texas said the boys living there were being kept behind a metal wire.

The policy earned the condemnation of various public figures, lawmakers and human rights groups, including the United Nations. All living former first ladies condemned the policy and Mrs. Trump herself seemed to be against it, although she did not outright criticize the policy. Her public statements and visit to Texas appeared to show that she felt for these children, which makes her jacket choice all the more surprising. According to The Daily Mail, the jacket retails for $39 at Zara. The publication reports she wore the jacket while getting on a government plane at Andrews Air Force Base Thursday morning.

Reporters traveling with the first lady asked Mrs. Trump's communications director, Stephanie Grisham, about the jacket. Grisham said there was no hidden message behind the jacket. She added that she hoped after the visit to Texas, the media would not choose to focus on the jacket.

Grisham later tweeted that if the media would focus on Mrs. Trump's efforts to help kids rather than speculate on her wardrobe, much could be accomplished on behalf of the children. Grisham added the hashtags "#SheCares" and "#ItsJustAJacket" to her tweet.

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