Trump honors Laken Riley, victims of illegal immigration, at White House ‘Angel Family Day’ ceremony

President Donald Trump honored the late Laken Riley and families who have lost loved ones to the “scourge of illegal immigration” at the White House on Monday by declaring “Angel Family Day.”

The event highlighted the importance of border security and the dangers of unchecked illegal immigration ahead of Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Border Czar Tom Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem were in attendance, joined by families of victims – among them the mother of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was beaten and murdered by an illegal immigrant while she was out on a run. “Angel Family Day” was chosen as a tribute to Riley, who was killed on Feb. 22, 2024.

“They let in everybody,” Trump said, as he criticized the Biden administration’s immigration policy and highlighted his administration’s border turnaround. “The first bill I signed into law after taking office last year was the Laken Riley Act, so proud of it, to ensure illegal alien criminals are rapidly removed from the United States of America.”

National Angel Family Day will “honor the thousands of American lives stolen from us by criminal illegal aliens and the deadly drugs they bring across our borders,” Trump’s proclamation noted. “We recommit to carrying out the largest mass-deportation effort in our Nation’s history, getting the worst of the worst out of our country, and putting a stop to the violence targeting the brave men and women of law enforcement.”

The remembrance comes as the administration has been under fire for its immigration enforcement, with polling indicating public support has dropped, especially among independents: 49% of adults surveyed in a recent NBC News Decision Desk poll indicated they strongly disapprove of Trump’s immigration tactics, an increase from the 38% who strongly disapproved last summer.

Yet for the families of the victims present at Monday’s event, they had nothing but praise for the president’s border security efforts, crediting his aggressive stance with bringing them a measure of justice long denied.

“If you’ve lived that nightmare that we have lived, you understand the importance of the job that [Trump] is doing in securing our nation and fighting for our families,” Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips, said. “Because this could be any family.”

Jody Jones, whose brother was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant, emphasized that Trump’s actions are putting Americans – not migrants – first. 

“I’m sick and tired of hearing these Democratic politicians stand up on these podiums and say how sorry they are for seeing these criminal illegal aliens being ripped apart from their families. What about us?” he said of the Angel families. “We mean something too.”

“Americans are not racist, we’re not xenophobic, because we want a safe America and we want to put Americans first,” he added.

Another mother, Laura Wilkerson, described how her son was “brutally beaten, tortured and strangled to death and his body set on fire” by an illegal immigrant. When Trump heard her family’s story, “he never ever looked away from my pain,” she said.

“He looked me straight in the eye and he said, ‘I will never forget the story of your sweet son and I will never give up fighting for the American family,’” Wilkerson noted. 

Former New York City police officer Ethan Curreri criticized sanctuary city policies at the event, saying he previously arrested Riley’s murderer, José Antonio Ibarra, only to later see that he was released.

“While serving the New York City Police Department, I personally arrested Jose Ibarra for endangering the welfare of a child,” he said. “A few months later, I saw his face again in the news after he viciously murdered Laken Riley.”

Curreri said that although he did his job as a police officer by putting Ibarra in custody, “the system failed.”

“No detainer, no accountability, no deportation – and an innocent American life was taken,” he said. “If you enter our country illegally, there will be consequences under this administration.”