President Donald Trump hosted an Angel Families Remembrance Ceremony at the White House on February 23, 2026, gathering families of Americans killed by individuals who entered the country illegally. The emotional ceremony culminated in Trump signing a proclamation establishing February 22nd as National Angel Family Day — a designation he said he had been seeking since his first administration. Several family members spoke, including Allyson Philips, the mother of Laken Riley, the Georgia nursing student whose 2024 murder by an undocumented immigrant sparked the landmark Laken Riley Act. Trump cited the Act as having already resulted in more than 21,000 arrests of undocumented criminal immigrants. The event also featured testimony from the police officer who had previously arrested Riley’s killer, as well as other Angel Family members sharing harrowing accounts of losses to violent crime. Trump used the occasion to deliver wide-ranging remarks attacking Democratic immigration policies, repeating unsubstantiated claims about the 2020 election being “rigged,” and asserting that murder rates are now at a 125-year low. The ceremony closed with a candlelight vigil, a reading of victims’ names, and a rendition of “Amazing Grace” performed by military singers. Assistance from Claude AI.
Participants
Donald Trump — 47th President of the United States
Allyson Philips — Mother of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student murdered in Georgia on February 22, 2024
Ethan Curreri — Police officer, Palm Beach County, Florida; former New York City Police Department officer who had previously arrested Laken Riley’s killer
Steve Ronnebeck — Father of Grant Ronnebeck, 21, murdered by an undocumented immigrant while working at an Arizona convenience store
Marie Vega — Mother of Javier “Harvey” Vega Jr., a retired U.S. Marine and Border Patrol agent murdered in front of his family in Texas in 2014
Laura Wilkerson — Mother of Joshua Wilkerson, 18, beaten, tortured, and murdered by an undocumented immigrant
Jody Jones — Brother of Rocky Jones, shot and killed by an undocumented immigrant during a crime spree in central California
Patty Morin — Mother of Rachel Morin (murdered by an undocumented immigrant; mentioned in passing)
Tammy Nobles — Mother of Kayla Nobles (murdered by an undocumented immigrant; mentioned in passing)
Also referenced but not speaking: Kristi Noem (Secretary of Homeland Security) and Tom Homan (Border Czar / “Border Czar”) were both addressed directly by Trump, indicating their presence.
Detailed Breakdown by Topic
Opening Remarks: Setting the Tone
Trump opened by framing the ceremony as deeply personal and politically significant, expressing frustration that the media does not cover Angel Family stories fairly — a theme he returned to repeatedly. He described the assembled families as having been “betrayed” for decades by politicians who, in his telling, prioritized “the comfort of foreign criminals before the safety of American citizens.”
He recalled attending his very first meeting with Angel Families years ago, before he became president, and watching television cameras literally turn off when the parents began to speak. “These are sick people that cover stories like that,” he said, “or that don’t cover them, which is worse.” This set an adversarial tone toward the press that persisted throughout the event.
The National Angel Family Day Proclamation
One of the ceremony’s central events was Trump’s signing of a presidential proclamation establishing February 22nd as National Angel Family Day. Trump noted he had been trying to sign this proclamation since his first term but had encountered “so many different legal roadblocks.” He described finally getting it done as meaningful to him personally.
The choice of February 22nd is directly tied to Laken Riley, who was murdered on that date in 2024. Trump framed the date as a permanent national reminder of lives lost to preventable violence at the border.
After his formal remarks, Trump invited family members to gather around him for the signing, explicitly noting: “I don’t use an auto pen so you can watch me actually sign it.” He also distributed presidential coins to family members present.
Laken Riley: Her Story, Her Family, and Her Legacy
Laken Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student at the University of Georgia who was killed on February 22, 2024, while jogging on campus. Her accused killer, Jose Ibarra, was an undocumented immigrant who had previously been arrested in New York City but was released without a immigration detainer — meaning federal immigration authorities were never notified to take custody of him.
Trump recounted her story with visible emotion, noting that Ibarra “was released a second time after being arrested in New York City” before going on to kill Riley. He called her death “completely preventable.”
Allyson Philips, Laken’s mother, took the podium at Trump’s invitation and delivered one of the most emotionally powerful moments of the ceremony. She spoke of Trump’s consistency: “You have said from the beginning, literally the day after this happened, that you would not forget about Laken. You weren’t president at that time and you have not forgotten.” She described her daughter as someone who “wasn’t somebody that put herself in bad positions” — a responsible, hardworking young woman who had gotten up at 4:00 in the morning to decorate her roommate’s door for her birthday, then went for a run that morning and never came home. Philips closed by thanking Trump for honoring all Angel Families, not just Laken.
Officer Ethan Curreri then spoke — and his testimony was among the most concrete, policy-relevant moments of the event. Curreri explained that while serving with the NYPD, he personally arrested Jose Ibarra for “endangering the welfare of a child.” Months later, he saw Ibarra’s face in the news after Riley’s murder. “I did my job; I put him in custody,” Curreri said. “The system failed — no detainer, no accountability, no deportation and an innocent American life was taken.” His remarks underscored the central policy argument of the entire ceremony: that the immigration enforcement system, not just the individual criminal, bore responsibility for Riley’s death.
Trump connected Riley’s case directly to legislative action: “Among the first bills I signed into law after taking office last year was the Laken Riley Act,” he said, describing it as enabling the rapid removal of undocumented immigrants who commit crimes. He reported that the law “has already been playing a big role” and credited it with resulting in “over 21,000 illegal alien arrests.”
(Note: The Laken Riley Act was signed into law in January 2025 as the first bill of Trump’s second term. It requires federal immigration authorities to detain undocumented immigrants accused of burglary, theft, or violent crimes.)
Other Angel Family Testimonies
Steve Ronnebeck — whose son Grant was shot and killed by an undocumented immigrant while working the counter of a convenience store in Arizona — told the crowd he had been talking to Trump even before the 2016 election, finding hope that “it was finally going to end.” He emphasized the word “preventable,” saying all of these deaths could have been stopped with proper border enforcement. He also made an aside that echoed election skepticism, referring to the Biden presidency as coming from “an election that we question” — aligning himself with Trump’s narrative.
Marie Vega described the most visceral act of violence of the ceremony. On August 3, 2014, she, her husband Javier Senior, and her son Harvey Vega — a Marine veteran and Border Patrol agent — were fishing in Santa Monica, Texas, when they were ambushed by two undocumented immigrants with criminal records who tried to steal their vehicles. Harvey was shot in the chest and killed. Her husband was shot in the back. With children present and gunfire continuing, Vega herself picked up the AR-15 her son had tried to defend them with and returned fire. “Had we not fired back, they would have killed everyone there, including the children,” she said. She closed by praising Trump effusively and noting that her late father — who passed away in April 2025 — had asked her to make sure he was registered to vote for Trump’s third run for office.
Laura Wilkerson, whose son Joshua was beaten, tortured, strangled, and his body set on fire by an undocumented immigrant, offered a testimonial grounded in faith and personal history with Trump. She described first meeting him roughly 11 years earlier, when he was running for the 2016 Republican nomination. “He never ever looked away from my pain,” she 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.” Her remarks were notable for weaving together spiritual language with political support, asking “that God breathe a fresh breath of air through this administration.”
Jody Jones, whose brother Rocky was shot eight times at point-blank range by an undocumented immigrant who had been released from a California sanctuary city jail and went on a shooting spree within 24 hours, delivered the most impassioned speech of the ceremony — departing entirely from prepared remarks. “I was listening to Grandma Cook and she said thank you to President Trump and I just got the fire inside of me,” he said. He pushed back directly on characterizations of border enforcement advocates as racist or xenophobic: “Americans are not racist. We’re not xenophobic because we want a safe America and we want to put Americans first.”
Trump’s Policy Claims and Political Remarks
Trump’s formal and informal remarks ranged across several overlapping policy and political themes:
On border security: Trump declared the U.S. border “100 percent closed now,” crediting Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Czar Tom Homan for the achievement. He claimed that at least 25 million people entered the country illegally under Biden, and that many came from nations emptying their prisons and mental institutions — including specifically citing the Democratic Republic of Congo as having released prisoners and routed them through Mexico into the United States. He cited a figure of 11,888 murderers having been “allowed into our country by the Biden administration,” without providing a specific source during the event.
On crime: Trump claimed that “murders are down for the most — in 125 years,” attributing the decline to closing the border and removing undocumented immigrants. He said Washington D.C. is now “a safe place.” These claims are broadly contested, and the specific causal linkage between deportations and murder rates involves complex methodological questions that criminologists continue to debate.
On sanctuary cities: Trump said his administration would “do everything in our power to end the scourge of sanctuary cities once and for all.” He expressed bewilderment that local governments fight aggressively to protect undocumented immigrants accused of crimes, calling their defenders “sick” and saying “there’s something wrong with them.”
On the 2020 election: In an extended digression, Trump asserted that the 2020 election was “rigged by millions and millions of votes,” that Biden “never left his basement,” and that it was “all run by crooked people.” He told the audience that if the election had not been “stolen,” every person in the room would still have their family member alive. (Note: These claims have been repeatedly rejected by courts, election officials of both parties, and the Justice Department under both the Trump and Biden administrations.)
On the 2024 election: Trump claimed he received “probably 85 million votes” (official totals put his 2024 total at approximately 77 million), described winning in a “landslide,” and dismissed a poll showing his approval at 40% as “fake.”
On inflation and gas prices: Trump claimed he has solved inflation and that he saw gasoline at $1.85 per gallon in Iowa. He said “prices are coming way down” and promised to drive them down further. (Note: National average gasoline prices as of early 2026 remain above $3/gallon according to EIA data, though prices vary significantly by region.)
On assassination attempts and historical legacy: In a somewhat startling aside, Trump mused that “they only go after consequential presidents,” listing Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, before half-jokingly asking Tom Homan if they could “be a normal president for a little while.” He described surviving assassination attempts as confirmation of his historical significance.
Personal Moments and Candlelight Vigil
Patty Morin, mother of murder victim Rachel Morin, had a brief personal exchange with Trump in which he revealed he had contributed financially to cataract surgery for her, saying he “gave her money to get her eyes fixed, a lot of money.” Morin disclosed that her eye surgery had been postponed because grief had caused her to suffer two heart attacks. The exchange, though informal, illustrated the close personal bonds Trump described having developed with many Angel Families.
Near the close of the ceremony, Trump read aloud from a letter written by the grandparents of an eight-year-old girl killed when an undocumented immigrant ran her over with a truck — apparently deliberately. The letter read: “We are hurting so badly and now know that the hurting in our family will never go away. We’re not seeking notoriety. We don’t care about press coverage, but we do want our girl to be remembered.”
The ceremony concluded with a candlelight vigil, a reading of victims’ names (during which Trump sat in the audience with the families), and a performance of “Amazing Grace” by military singers. Trump closed with brief thanks before departing.
Notable Exchanges and Revealing Moments
Several moments stood out as particularly revealing of both the emotional tenor of the event and Trump’s state of mind:
When Trump spoke with Allyson Philips, he mused aloud, “Doesn’t get that much easier, does it, right, even with time?” — an unusually unguarded observation about grief that drew murmurs from the crowd.
When Jody Jones departed from his prepared speech to speak “from the heart,” the energy in the room visibly shifted, and Trump responded warmly, calling it “beautiful.”
When a young child named Emma was introduced to Trump during the proclamation signing, he paused the official proceedings to say hello before continuing — a small humanizing detail that showed the informal nature of the event despite its official framing.
And perhaps most tellingly, Trump closed his remarks with: “At least you have one friend. And we don’t understand why you don’t have many and maybe you will, I don’t know.” The statement — positioning the President of the United States as essentially the sole institutional ally of grieving families — captured both Trump’s political branding and the genuine sense of isolation many Angel Families say they have felt from mainstream political and media institutions.
Citation
“Remarks: Donald Trump Attends an Angel Families Remembrance Ceremony — February 23, 2026.” Factbase, FiscalNote / CQ and Roll Call, 23 Feb. 2026, factba.se. Transcript.
Fact-Check: Trump Angel Families Remembrance Ceremony — February 23, 2026
CLAIM 1: “11,888 murderers were allowed into our country by the Biden administration.”
Verdict: Misleading — the number is real, but the framing is false.
This figure appears to be a variation on ICE data that Trump and his allies have cited repeatedly since September 2024. That data, released in a letter from acting ICE Director Patrick Lechleitner to Rep. Tony Gonzales, showed that as of July 2024, approximately 13,099 non-citizens convicted of homicide were on ICE’s “non-detained docket” — meaning they were in removal proceedings but not held in ICE custody. (Trump’s “11,888” figure may reflect a slightly different cut of the same dataset, or an earlier snapshot.)
The critical context the claim omits: the Department of Homeland Security — under both Biden and Trump — explicitly stated that this data “goes back decades” and includes individuals who entered the U.S. over 40 years or more, the vast majority of whom had their custody status determined long before the Biden administration. Many of those individuals entered during previous administrations, including Trump’s first term. Furthermore, many are currently incarcerated in federal, state, or local prisons serving criminal sentences — they are not, as the framing implies, freely roaming American streets as a result of Biden policy. The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, found that more noncitizens with criminal records were actually released from ICE custody during Trump’s first term (92,920) than during Biden’s (56,280).
Sources: FactCheck.org (Oct. 2024); CBS News (Oct. 2024); Newsweek (Oct. 2024); NBC News (Sept. 2024); Cato Institute analysis (Oct. 2024).
CLAIM 2: The Laken Riley Act “has resulted in over 21,000 illegal alien arrests.”
Verdict: Essentially accurate, based on DHS’s own one-year anniversary announcement.
The Department of Homeland Security, in a January 29, 2026 press release marking the one-year anniversary of the Laken Riley Act, confirmed that “ICE arrested more than 21,400 illegal aliens with Laken Riley Act crimes.” This aligns closely with Trump’s stated figure of “21,000.” Earlier in December 2025, the figure stood at 17,500, with a high-profile two-week operation called “Operation Angel’s Honor” adding more than 1,000 arrests in that period alone.
One important caveat worth noting: the Laken Riley Act mandates detention of undocumented immigrants who are arrested or charged with qualifying crimes — not necessarily convicted. Critics, including immigration law organizations, have raised concerns that this means some individuals could be held on the basis of charges that are later dropped or found to be false, without any opportunity to request bond. That broader context is absent from Trump’s framing.
Sources: DHS press release, Jan. 29, 2026; Fox News (Dec. 2025); Wikipedia/Laken Riley Act; National Immigration Project analysis.
CLAIM 3: “Murders are down for the most — in 125 years.”
Verdict: Partially true — the murder decline is real and historic, but the “125 years” claim involves a methodological caveat.
This is one of Trump’s most frequently repeated statistics and there is substantial evidence supporting the core claim. The Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) published a January 2026 report finding that homicides in 35 major U.S. cities fell 21% in 2025 — the largest single-year percentage drop ever recorded. The CCJ projected the national homicide rate will come in at approximately 4.0 per 100,000 residents, which could be the lowest rate ever recorded in law enforcement or public health data going back to 1900. PolitiFact rated the “125-year low” claim “Half True.”
The reason it’s not a clean “true”: crime data methodology was not consistent across the entire 125-year period. The FBI only began standardized crime reporting in 1960. Data before that is drawn from a mix of public health death records and older FBI data that used different methods and covered a smaller share of the U.S. population. Crime analyst Jeff Asher told PolitiFact that 2025 will “likely” end up as the lowest FBI murder rate in at least 65 years — which is a definitive statement — but saying 125 years requires comparing data sets that aren’t perfectly apples-to-apples. Still, the CCJ expressed “a high degree of confidence” the rate could be the lowest since 1900.
An additional important note: violent crime was already falling sharply throughout Biden’s final year in office in 2024, recording a 15% decline in homicides that year. Experts cited multiple factors driving the trend — including post-pandemic normalization, policing strategies, and demographic shifts — making it difficult to attribute the decline solely, or even primarily, to Trump’s border enforcement policies.
Sources: Council on Criminal Justice, 2025 Year-End Crime Trends Report (Jan. 22, 2026); PolitiFact (Feb. 12, 2026); Axios (Jan. 22, 2026); Jeff Asher / AH Datalytics (Dec. 2025); CBS News (Jan. 22, 2026).
CLAIM 4: “We have a border that’s 100 percent closed now.”
Verdict: Hyperbolic — border crossings have fallen dramatically, but “100 percent closed” is not accurate.
Illegal border crossings have dropped to historic lows under the Trump administration, driven by a combination of rapid deportations, the “Remain in Mexico” policy revival, military deployment to the border, and aggressive enforcement. CBP has reported that illegal encounters have fallen to some of the lowest levels in decades. However, legal and humanitarian pathways remain open, asylum processing — though severely curtailed — continues in some form, and no administration has literally achieved a “100 percent closed” border in any technical or operational sense. The claim is more rhetorical flourish than factual description.
CLAIM 5: “At least 25 million people” entered the country illegally under Biden.
Verdict: Exaggerated.
This figure has circulated widely in conservative media and has been used by Trump and senior advisers like Stephen Miller. However, it conflates two different things: CBP “encounters” (which count every time someone is stopped or detected at the border, including many who are quickly turned away or deported) with the actual undocumented population residing in the United States. The total number of border encounters during the Biden administration did reach roughly 10–11 million over four years, but many of those individuals were removed, deported, or returned. Pew Research Center updated its estimates in 2024 to show the total U.S. undocumented population grew from approximately 10.5 million to around 14 million during the Biden years. The Cato Institute’s Alex Nowrasteh described the 20–30 million figure as “an exaggeration,” though he acknowledged there was “a large increase in the illegal immigrant population during the Biden administration.” The 25 million figure Trump used appears to conflate encounters with permanent unauthorized residents.
Sources: Newsweek (Nov. 2025); Pew Research Center (Aug. 2024); Cato Institute / Alex Nowrasteh.
CLAIM 6: “I got probably 85 million votes” in 2024. “They say 78 million, 79 million.”
Verdict: False.
Trump received approximately 77.3 million votes in the 2024 presidential election, according to certified official results — the largest popular vote total in Republican history, and a genuine landslide in the Electoral College. There is no credible source placing his vote total at 85 million. The official certified totals are publicly available from state election authorities and the Federal Election Commission. Trump’s claim that even the accepted figure of ~77–79 million is an undercount is unsubstantiated.
CLAIM 7: The 2020 election was “rigged by millions and millions of votes.”
Verdict: False — this claim has been rejected by courts, election officials, and Trump’s own Justice Department.
Trump repeated his longstanding claim that the 2020 election was stolen. This has been litigated extensively: more than 60 court cases filed by Trump allies were dismissed or rejected, including by judges appointed by Trump himself. The Department of Justice under Trump’s own Attorney General William Barr found no evidence of widespread fraud sufficient to change the election outcome. State election officials — Republicans and Democrats alike — in contested states like Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin certified Biden’s victories. The claim is false.
CLAIM 8: “I was in Iowa, $1.85 a gallon.”
Verdict: Plausible as a local price at a specific station, but not representative of broader Iowa or national prices.
As of February 23, 2026, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was approximately $2.94, according to AAA — not $1.85. Iowa specifically, as of the same date, typically falls in the $2.40–$2.55 range, which is below the national average but well above $1.85. It is possible Trump saw a specific discounted price at a single station (membership warehouse clubs like Costco or Sam’s Club sometimes post lower prices), but the $1.85 figure is not representative of Iowa prices broadly and could mislead listeners into thinking gas across the country is that cheap. Gas prices have fallen significantly since Biden’s peak of nearly $5 per gallon nationally in June 2022, but the current national average remains around $2.94.
Sources: AAA national average, Feb. 23, 2026 ($2.94); AAA state averages (Iowa in the $2.47–$2.54 range as of early February 2026); Marketplace/NPR (Feb. 17, 2026).
CLAIM 9: Biden administration released countries’ “jails” and “mental institutions” into the U.S., including from Congo.
Verdict: Lacks verifiable evidence; a well-worn rhetorical claim not supported by documented government data.
Trump has made variants of this claim since 2015. While there were documented cases of specific countries — notably Venezuela — releasing individuals with criminal records who then migrated through the U.S.-Mexico border corridor, there is no government report or credible investigation establishing that the Democratic Republic of Congo or other specific nations systematically emptied prisons and directed those individuals into U.S. migration flows as a matter of state policy. CBP did encounter migrants from an unusually wide range of countries during the Biden surge, including some from African nations. But the “they emptied their jails” framing implies a coordinated foreign government conspiracy that has not been substantiated.
Summary Table
| Claim | Verdict | Key Context |
|---|---|---|
| “11,888 murderers allowed in by Biden” | Misleading | Real ICE data, but spans 40 years; many entered pre-Biden; many incarcerated |
| “21,000 arrests under Laken Riley Act” | Accurate | Confirmed by DHS Jan. 2026 anniversary report (21,400) |
| “Murders lowest in 125 years” | Partially true | Historic drop confirmed; “125 years” disputed due to data methodology |
| “Border 100% closed” | Hyperbole | Crossings near historic lows but not literally zero |
| “25 million people entered illegally” | Exaggerated | Conflates encounters with residents; Pew estimates ~14M net increase |
| “85 million votes” | False | Certified total was ~77.3 million |
| “2020 election was rigged” | False | Rejected by 60+ courts, Trump’s DOJ, bipartisan state officials |
| “$1.85 gas in Iowa” | Misleading | Iowa average ~$2.47–$2.54; national average $2.94 on ceremony date |
| Countries emptied jails/mental institutions | Unsubstantiated | No credible documentation of coordinated state-directed policy |
Note: This fact-check focuses on verifiable factual claims and does not evaluate opinions, characterizations, or policy arguments. Sources include DHS, AAA, PolitiFact, FactCheck.org, the Council on Criminal Justice, Cato Institute, and CBP official data.