First Lady Melania Trump has come under fire for wearing a controversial jacket she while travelling to visit migrant children held in a detention shelter on the US-Mexico border.

The army green jacket was adorned with bold, white letters on the back, reading: “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?”

Ms Trump donned the jacket while boarding a plane bound for McAllen, Texas, where she visited a shelter for immigrant children – some of whom were separated from their parents under the Trump administration’s zero tolerance immigration policy.

That approach involves all adults being prosecuted for illegal border crossings, with children being taken into the care of the government while cases are processed.

Photos of the jacket – which costs $39 from fast fashion retailer Zara – circulated quickly online, stirring outrage over what some felt was an insensitive choice.

Many pointed to the fact Ms Trump normally wears far more expensive, designer clothing, including jackets priced at more than $50,000.

“Hey ⁦@FLOTUS⁩ we really DO care about children being torn away from their families,” tweeted Lauren Hogg, a gun control activist and survivor of the Parkland school shooting. “This is exceptionally insensitive and appalling even for you.”

The backlash drove Donald Trump to weigh in, claiming the words on the jacket were directed towards the "Fake News Media".

"Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!" Mr Trump tweeted on Thursday night.

The back side of Melania Trump’s jacket, seen on the Zara website (Zara)

The tweet contradicted a statement from Ms Trump’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, who told reporters there was "no hidden message" in the first lady's wardrobe choice.

“It's a jacket," Ms Grishman said. "...After today’s important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn’t going to choose to focus on her wardrobe".

She later added via Twitter: “Today’s visit w the children in Texas impacted @FLOTUS greatly. If media would spend their time & energy on her actions & efforts to help kids – rather than speculate & focus on her wardrobe – we could get so much accomplished on behalf of children. #SheCares #ItsJustAJacket”

Some speculated the jacket was part of a deliberate attempt to distract attention from the Trump administration's recent actions.

The first lady wore a different pale yellow jacket when she disembarked in Texas on Thursday morning. On her return trip to the White House, however, Ms Trump was pictured wearing the jacket for a second time.

Ms Trump's office issued a statement over the weekend saying the first lady “hates” to see children separated from their families and “believes we need to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart.”

Screaming children heard crying for parents at US detention centre after being separated at border under Trump policy, in distressing audio recording

Ms Trump’s border visit came one day after her husband bowed to public pressure and signed an executive order to end family separations at the border. More than 2,300 children were separated from their families between mid-April and early June.

As the first lady was visiting Texas, Mr Trump said at a cabinet meeting that he was directing federal agencies to begin reuniting children and parents separated at the US-Mexico border, a first step to implementing his executive order.

Ms Grisham told reporters that Ms Trump had planned the trip before her husband signed the executive order, saying: “She wanted to see everything for herself.”

“She supports family reunification,” Ms Grisham added. “She thinks that it’s important that children stay with their families.”

Under Mr Trump’s executive order, immigrant families will now be housed together in detention centres while individual family members face charges. Activists have protested this response, saying it will only result in the indeterminate detention of more children.

Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Show all 14 1 /14 Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Immigrant children, many of whom are separated form their parents, are housed in Texas' tent city Reuters Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border A two-year-old Honduran asylum seeker cries as her mother is searched and detained near the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Undocumented migrants ride on the top of a freight train referred to as the beast, or La Bestia Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border A cage inside a US Customs and Border Protection detention facility in Texas Reuters Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US Border Patrol Academy All new agents must complete a months-long training course at the New Mexico facility before assuming their posts at Border Patrol stations, mostly along the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence A group of young men walk along the Mexican side of the US-Mexico border fence in a remote area of the Sonoran Desert Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence in the US Man looks through US-Mexico border fence into the US in Tijuana, Mexico Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence US Border Patrol agent Sal De Leon stands near a section of the US-Mexico border fence while stopping on patrol on in La Joya, Texas Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US Border Patrol Academy US Border Patrol instructor yells at trainees after their initial arrival to the academy Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Memorial service in Guatemala Families attend a memorial service for two boys who were kidnapped and killed in San Juan Sacatepequez, Guatemala. Crime drives emigration from Guatemala to the United States, as families seek refuge from the danger Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Arrests on the border Undocumented immigrants comfort each other after being caught by Border Patrol agents near the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Detention holding facility A boy from Honduras watches a movie at a detention facility run by the US Border Patrol Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Mexican farm workers Mexican migrant workers harvest organic parsley at Grant Family Farms in Wellington, Colorado Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Mexican family in Arizona A Mexican immigrant family sits in the living room of their rented home in Tuscon, Arizona. The family that Arizona's new tough immigrant law had created a climate of fear in the immigrant community. Getty

Ms Trump visited the Upbring New Hope Children’s Shelter on Thursday, which is home to some 55 migrant children placed in the care of US Department of Health and Human Services.

Most of the children came from Guatemala, according to a senior administration official, and were between the ages of 12 and 17. Six of the children were separated from their families upon reaching the border, while the rest arrived unaccompanied.

The first lady spent approximately 75 minutes at the shelter, according to pool reports. She also met with shelter employees and government officials, who she praised for doing “heroic work”.

“I’m here to learn about your facility,” she said. “I also like to ask you how I can help to be sure these children reunite with their families as quickly as possible.”