WATCH LIVE: Trump to Honor Angel Families at the White House — Laken Riley Among Those Recognized
President Donald Trump is holding a White House remembrance ceremony for "angel families, " an event meant to recognize laken riley and other relatives of people killed by someone who was illegally in the U. S. The program includes a proclamation designating "Angel Family Day" and has been presented as a solemn occasion by the president.
WATCH LIVE event and official actions
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a social media post that the president was signing a proclamation designating "Angel Family Day. " The designation was specifically named for a date, Feb. 22, and the White House event brings together multiple families whose relatives were killed by people who had entered the country illegally.
Laken Riley and the case that shaped a bill
The ceremony is meant to recognize Laken Riley and families like hers. Laken Riley was a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was killed while out jogging in February 2024. Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan man, is now serving a life term for her murder. Ibarra had been arrested for illegally entering the U. S. and released to pursue his case in immigration court.
Riley's case became a flashpoint in the immigration debate, and the first bill the president signed into law in his second term was named for Riley. The prominence of the case, its legislative outcome, and the legal consequences for the accused are central to why the family has been featured at this event.
Family response and public remarks
Allyson Phillips, the mother of Riley, thanked the president for actions taken to honor her daughter and other families. She said public perception of the president is different from the person she has come to know and described the personal toll of the family's experience, saying he had taken on a fight most people would not want to fight and that living their nightmare made the president's actions particularly meaningful.
Phillips remembered her daughter as the most responsible, hardworking, kind, selfless, and a beautiful Christian, and added that Riley did not make bad choices but had simply gone out for a run that morning. There is no way Trump or anyone can know that.
Legal outcomes, immigration policy and election claims
The president has been credited by supporters with sharply reducing illegal migration from Mexico in his second term, and he has asserted he would have taken the same steps earlier had he not lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. At the event the president reiterated claims that he only lost because the election was rigged; those claims are characterized in public coverage as false. The president lost dozens of court challenges, his own attorney general found no evidence of widespread fraud, and reviews, audits and recounts in the battleground states where he contested the outcome affirmed Biden's victory.
Other families named and related programming
The White House event includes the families of Rachel Morin among others. Coverage leading into the event carried "WATCH LIVE" prompts for this remembrance and also referenced live coverage of other presidential events, including a notice reading "WATCH LIVE: President Donald Trump's 2026 State of the Union address" in adjacent programming announcements.
What to expect from the ceremony
The gathering is presented by the administration as a solemn recognition of families who lost loved ones to crimes by people who were in the country illegally. Families, lawmakers and the president are using the moment to underscore legislative and policy responses tied to those losses. Observers should note that some details remain matters of public debate and that perspectives on the event and its framing differ sharply.
