(JTA) — Ivanka Trump asked her father, President Donald Trump, to find a legislative solution to end the policy of separating illegal migrant children from their parents at the U.S. border.
The president revealed the contents of the meeting Tuesday with his daughter during a closed-door session that night with House Republicans, the Daily Beast reported, citing several lawmakers who attended the meeting.
CNN also confirmed that the meeting took place, citing a White House spokesman.
“She offered the president her support and she said she would talk to any member of Congress to help find a legislative solution to the issue,” the spokesman, Hogan Gidley, told CNN.
After the meeting Ivanka Trump, who is Jewish, called House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, both Republicans, CNN reported.
“He mentioned that his daughter Ivanka had encouraged him to end this, and he said he does recognize that it needs to end and the images are painful and he’s looking for a legislative solution,” Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., told reporters. “He discussed the optics and the policy itself, and I think he’s not comfortable with either.”
Photos, video and audio of children crying for their parents and locked up behind chain-link fences have captured national attention. The Trump administration claims it is just enforcing the existing law.
Ivanka Trump, a White House adviser who is an advocate in the White House for women and families, has not spoken out publicly on the zero tolerance policy at the border that has separated hundreds of children from their parents or adult guardians.
She came under fire late last month for a social media post with her young son, both in pajamas, cuddling in the days after the policy of separating children from their parents at the border came to light. In recent days, many have taken to social media to criticize Ivanka Trump for not speaking out publicly on the issue.
Former first ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton have all come out publicly against the practice, as has the president’s wife, Melania.
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