President Donald Trump welcomed angel families to the White House on Monday to remember their lost loved ones and commemorate “National Angel Family Day.”
Trump also invited several angel families to attend Tuesday’s State of the Union address, putting the national spotlight on children and other innocent Americans killed by illegal immigrants.
The Angel Family ceremony honored American families who have lost loved ones due to violence by criminal illegal aliens and failed open border policies.
The emotional gathering included several family members who spoke about losing their loved ones and praised Trump for his efforts to make America safe.
Trump also signed a proclamation designating Feb. 22 as National Angel Family Day on the second anniversary of Laken Riley’s murder.
“I will not forget them,” Trump said. “I’m never going to forget them. I just think you’re among the most brave [sic] people.”
Trump also used Tuesday’s State of the Union address to tout his successes in border security and crime reduction across the country, recognizing angel families and other crime victims in the gallery.
“These are the angel moms and families that for decades our government betrayed and our media totally ignored,” he said.
He called out Democrats for working to protect illegal immigrants over American citizens.
“They’re blocking the removal of these people out of our country, and you should be ashamed of yourselves,” Trump said of sanctuary politicians.
In a visual moment showing the divide, he asked legislators to stand up in support of this statement: “The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”
While the Republican side of the chamber stood and clapped for several minutes, Democrats stayed seated, with some shouting back at the president.
“Isn’t that a shame?” he said. “You should be ashamed of yourself for not standing up.”
Trump invited Bakersfield, Calif., resident Marcus Coleman and his daughter, Dalilah Coleman, to attend the State of the Union and introduced them during the address.
Dalilah, now 7 years old, was severely injured in an accident involving an illegal immigrant truck driver in 2024. The young girl suffered severe head trauma and was in a coma for months after a big rig slammed into her family’s car.
The president called on congress to pass a law named after her called “Dalilah’s Law.” According to the President, the law aims to bar illegal immigrants from receiving a commercial driver’s license.
Trump also recognized Jacqueline Medina, whose daughter, Lizbeth Medina, was murdered by an illegal immigrant in Texas. The 16-year-old high school cheerleader was supposed to perform in her town’s Christmas parade, but she never arrived.
Her mother went home to look for her and found her lying dead in a bathtub, bleeding profusely after being stabbed 25 times.
“Her heartbroken mother is in the gallery to remind everyone in this chamber exactly why we are deporting illegal alien criminals from our country at record numbers, and we’re getting them the hell out of here fast; we don’t want them,” Trump said.
Monday’s Angel Families event and proclamation was meant as “a day of remembrance for victims and their grieving loved ones devastated by the consequences of open border policies,” according to The White House.
Part of the proclamation reads: “On National Angel Family Day, we remember and honor the thousands of American lives stolen from us by criminal illegal aliens and the deadly drugs they bring across our borders. We stand with the Angel Families, many of whom continue to be left without justice.”
Allyson Phillips, the mother of Laken Riley, said she has gotten to know a different version of President Trump. She turned to him several times and said he’s doing “a thankless job that most people just wouldn’t do,” adding, “I just can’t thank you enough.”
Phillips highlighted the fact her daughter was the most “responsible, hardworking, kind, selfless beautiful Christian” who was just going about her normal day when she headed out for a jog.
“If you’ve lived the nightmare that we have lived, you understand the importance of the job that he is doing in securing our nation and fighting for our families because this could be any family,” Phillips said.
Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was murdered by Jose Ibarra, an illegal migrant from Venezuelan, on Feb. 22, 2024, while she was jogging on the University of Georgia campus.
“This happened to my family,” Phillips said. “This could be anyone of your families.”
Laura Wilkerson, the mother of Joshua Wilkerson, described how she met President Trump 11 years ago while he was running for office. She said “he watched as the tears rolled down my face” while she told him the story of how her youngest son was beaten, tortured, strangled to death and his body then set on fire.
“He never, ever looked away from my pain,” Wilkerson said. “He looked me straight in the eye and said ‘I will never forget the story of your sweet son, and I will never give up fighting for the American family.’ I looked at him and I believed him.”
Wilkerson said President Trump has “never missed a day for fighting for the American family” and said she is grateful for what he does every single day. She asked for “God to breathe a fresh breath of air through this administration,” so they can continue to do the hard work of restoring our country in the midst of spiritual battles.
Jody Jones spoke about his brother, Rocky Jones, who was murdered by a criminal illegal alien who was arrested, released and within 24 hours went on a shooting spree in central California. He said his brother was “simply at the wrong place at the wrong time” when he got shot eight times at point-blank range.
Jones said he had a speech prepared but decided to speak from the heart. He also thanked President Trump, telling him, “President Trump, you are the man.”
“Thank you, sir, for putting America first, and putting these angel families first and letting everybody know their stories because we matter,” he said.
Jones added that “no matter what the fake media says about you, the American people love you and we will support you.”
“I pray no other family has to go through that and unfortunately, they will,” Jones continued. “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? What about the American family? We mean something, too, and this man right here understands it.”
Joe Abraham, father of Katie Abraham, also attended the event and spoke out against the Biden administration’s failed policies on “America Reports.” He wonders how former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas can sleep at night with “so much blood on his hands.”
Abraham’s daughter was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Illinois by an illegal alien who tried to flee the country and had phony identification.
Abraham also called out Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who never acknowledged Katie’s life or death, and said the driver who killed her was “aided and abetted” by the state’s sanctuary policies.
“I had mixed feelings around this,” he said. “I appreciate President Trump so much for acknowledging us, not trying to erase us or ignore us because we might be inconvenient for certain policies. And the other side if me felt so sorry for our country that this is what it’s come down to, a very preventable outcome of policies of the prior administration.”
Abraham comes from a family of immigrants who came to the United States the proper way and said “there’s a way to do it, and there’s a way not to do it.”
