In address, Trump says Laken Riley was ‘stolen from us’
WASHINGTON - During his t address to Congress on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump spoke about a 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student who was killed by a Venezuelan immigrant who was in the U.S. illegally.
Trump said Laken Riley was “stolen from us” when she was murdered while running on the University of Georgia campus in February 2024.
Allyson and Lauren Phillips, the mother and sister of Riley, respectively, were among the guests of first lady Melania Trump at the speech.
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After Trump’s election, the Laken Riley Act was the first bill ed out of the new, 118th Congress and the first bill signed into law by the newly elected president.
The act is aimed at cracking down on immigration by requiring federal officials to arrest undocumented immigrants who commit certain crimes related to theft and would mandate they are detained until they are removed from the country.
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It would also allow states to bring civil actions against federal officials who refuse to enforce immigration law or who violate the law.
Jose Ibarra, an undocumented immigrant who federal officials confirmed was in the U.S. illegally, was convicted last year in Riley’s murder.
Trump said Riley was a “beautiful young angel.” Riley’s mother Allyson could be seen mouthing “thank you” during the speech.
On the Democratic side, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams also brought guests to attend Trump’s Tuesday night speech.
Ossoff invited Al Lipphardt, commander in chief of the Stone Mountain branch of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Alicia Cleveland, a member of the We Dream in Black initiative of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, was invited by Williams.
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“Sen. Ossoff continues working alongside Georgia’s veterans to protect and strengthen the benefits and services they’ve earned and push back against the Trump istration’s recent firings of VA clinicians and suicide prevention specialists,” according to Ossoff’s office.
“No one should ever have to worry that a president and his unelected billionaire friend may decide to take away the program they rely on to keep their son alive,” Williams, who also chairs the Democratic Party of Georgia, said. “Plenty of people say that Medicaid will not be touched, but we have seen the lines redrawn and the envelope pushed time and time again. Medicaid and SNAP are lifelines for working families and for caregivers.”
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