Staff Reports
President Trump on Monday opened the East Room to grieving American families and signed a proclamation designating February 22, 2026, as National Angel Family Day — a solemn recognition of those killed by criminal illegal aliens and by the fentanyl scourge. The proclamation was formally issued on February 23, and the contrast could not be clearer: a president who names the victims and vows action, versus an administration that pretends the crisis doesn’t exist.
The ceremony itself was intentionally personal and raw, with Angel Families invited to speak, light candles, and demand that their loved ones not be forgotten — a public call to “say their names” that humanizes victims rather than reduce them to statistics. Family members, including the mother of Laken Riley and other grieving parents, delivered heart-wrenching testimony about lives stolen and promises broken by weak enforcement.
Among the stories highlighted was that of Laken Riley, the Georgia nursing student whose murder galvanized lawmakers and produced the Laken Riley Act — a law the President rightly pointed to as a step toward accountability and common-sense enforcement. The proclamation explicitly names Riley, Jocelyn Nungaray, Rachel Morin, and others whose lives were violently ended, reminding Americans that these are daughters, sons, neighbors, and co-workers, not political talking points.
Republicans and patriots should be clear-eyed about who is responsible for enabling this carnage: policies that release dangerous people into communities, sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse cooperation, and an administration that downplays the border crisis. The event was a needed rebuke to those who would shrug off these tragedies as unavoidable, and it ought to stiffen lawmakers’ spines to follow through with real enforcement.
President Trump didn’t stop at memorializing victims; he used the moment to outline concrete steps taken to secure the border — from declaring a national emergency and reinstating Remain in Mexico to labeling cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and pushing the One Big Beautiful Bill. Conservatives should applaud and build on these actions, while making plain that bluster and lectures about compassion mean little when citizens are left vulnerable on our streets.
For hardworking Americans watching, the message from Monday was simple and urgent: remember the names, honor the victims, and demand policies that protect families instead of exposing them to avoidable danger. If the media and the other side won’t lift their voices, then patriots must — insist on accountability, secure borders, and justice for every Angel Family.
