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As President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to tackle the nation’s illegal immigration problem, individuals whose relatives were killed by illegal immigrants thanked the president during a ceremony on Monday.
Allyson Phillips, the mother of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was slain by a Venezuelan man on Feb. 22, 2024, offered heartfelt thanks to the president.
Phillips told Trump that he is doing “a thankless job that most people just wouldn’t do,” noting, “I just can’t thank you enough.”
The mother of Laken Riley, Allyson Phillips, joins President Donald Trump during an Angel Families remembrance ceremony at the White House Feb. 23, 2026. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Jody Jones, who described how his brother Rocky was shot “eight times at point-blank range,” said he is “sick and tired” of Democrats talking about “criminal, illegal aliens” getting torn away from their families.
“What about us? What about the American family? What about us? We mean somethin’ too. And this man right here understands it,” he said.
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President Donald Trump holds up a proclamation dedicating Feb. 22 as Angel Family Day during a remembrance ceremony at the White House, Feb. 23, 2026. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“I love America. I love Donald Trump. I love my family,” he said.
“Thank you very much Donald Trump. President Trump, you are the man,” he added.
The president signed a proclamation on Monday declaring Feb. 22, 2026, as National Angel Family Day.
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President Donald Trump speaks during the Angel Families ceremony in the East Room at the White House, Feb. 23, 2026. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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“I call on the American people to assemble in their respective places of worship to pay homage to the victims killed by illegal aliens and to those taken by the fentanyl epidemic, and lift up the Angel Families and families devastated by drug overdoses,” the proclamation declares. “I further call upon public officials, community leaders, and all citizens to end the violence and lawlessness that have claimed so many innocent lives.”
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