Melania Trump privately told close aides over the past year that people she knew were being deported and that she was angry about it according to reports.

Those accounts say President Donald Trump later told advisors Stephen Miller had overreached. Miller serves as deputy chief of staff for homeland security and had pressed a sweep aimed at detaining and removing undocumented immigrants across the country.

At other moments Trump still backed Miller's hard line when speaking with aides according to the same reporting. Republicans in Texas and Florida also objected quietly to Miller's approach and shared those gripes with the White House.

Immigration remains a flashpoint in Trump's second term. Federal agents have drawn criticism after some encounters turned violent or deadly and reports say more than one U.S. citizen has been killed in related incidents.

Earlier influence on travel restrictions

A separate account from February 2017 has Trump telling a visitor that Melania convinced him to delay a controversial travel ban after a well-received speech to Congress. She warned him not to waste newly earned goodwill by moving too fast and he held the policy for about two weeks according to that recollection.

Taken together the episodes paint Melania as willing to push back on immigration timing and tactics and Trump as sometimes willing to listen.