Trump honors lives of Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungaray while celebrating strides on securing border

President Donald Trump honored the lives of Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray, who were both brutally killed by illegal immigrants under the Biden administration, during his address to a joint Congress on Tuesday.

“All three savages charged with Jocelyn and Laken’s murders were members of the Venezuelan prison gang, the toughest gang, they say, in the world known as Tren De Aragua. Two weeks ago, I officially designated this gang, along with MS-13 and the bloodthirsty Mexican drug cartels, as foreign terrorist organizations,” Trump said. 

“They are now officially in the same category as ISIS, and that’s not good for them. Countless thousands of these terrorists were welcomed into the U.S by the Biden administration. But now, every last one will be rounded up and forcibly removed from our country. Or, if they’re too dangerous, put in jail, standing trial in this country, because we don’t want them to come back ever,” he said.

Trump declared during his speech that the U.S. “will never, ever forget our beautiful Laken Riley” through legislation he singed into law. 

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“Laken was viciously attacked, assaulted. Beaten, brutalized, and horrifically murdered. Laken was stolen from us by a savage illegal alien,” Trump said during his speech. 

Georgia nursing student Laken Hope Riley, 22, was discovered beaten to death last year after going for a run on the University of Georgia’s campus. The Augusta University student crossed paths with an illegal immigrant, Jose Antonio Ibarra.

Ibarra, a Venezuelan national, entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was granted border “parole,” which allows noncitizens to temporarily enter the country due to an emergency or humanitarian reason, authorities have said. Ibarra soon made his way up to New York City, where he was arrested in August and “charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation,” according to ICE. 

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Trump continued that Ibarra “was arrested while trespassing across Biden’s open southern border.”

“And then set loose into the United States under the heartless policies of that failed administration. It was indeed a failed administration. He had then been arrested and released in a Democrat run sanctuary city, a disaster, before ending the life of this beautiful young angel. With us this evening are Laken’s beloved mother, Alison, and her sister Lauren,” he said. 

Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law upon taking office for a second time in January, saying that the U.S. will never forget Riley through the law that directs Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal immigrants arrested or charged with theft-related crimes, or those accused of assaulting a police officer. 

“Since taking office, my administration has launched the most sweeping border and immigration crackdown in American history. And we quickly achieved the lowest numbers of illegal border crossing ever recorded. … The media and our friends in the Democrat Party kept saying we needed new legislation. We must have legislation to secure the border. But it turned out that all we really needed was a new president,” he continued.

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Trump also remember the life of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was sexually assaulted and murdered by strangulation when two illegal immigrants in their 20s allegedly lured the young girl under a bridge before killing her in June of 2024. 

“Her precious Jocelyn walked to a nearby convenience store,” Trump said, speaking to the young girl’s mom, Alexis Nungaray. “She was kidnaped, tied up, assaulted for two hours under a bridge and horrifically murdered. Arrested and charged with this heinous crime are two illegal alien monsters from Venezuela, released into America by the last administration through their ridiculous open border. The death of this beautiful 12-year-old girl, and the agony of her mother and family touched our entire nation greatly.”

Trump said that he learned of the young girl’s love of nature while getting to know her family, and revealed that he renamed a wildlife refuge in Texas in honor of Jocelyn Nungaray.

“Alexis, I promised that we would always remember your daughter, your magnificent daughter. And earlier tonight I signed an order keeping my word to you. One thing I have learned about Jocelyn is that she loved animals so much. She loved nature. Across Galveston Bay, from where Jocelyn lived in Houston, you will find a magnificent National Wildlife Refuge. A pristine, peaceful, 34,000-acre sanctuary for all of God’s creatures on the edge of the Gulf of America.”

“Alexis, moments ago, I formally renamed that refuge in loving memory of your beautiful daughter, Jocelyn,” he said. 

Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy contributed to this report.