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President Donald Trump briefly paused an Angel Families Remembrance Ceremony at the White House on Monday to speak with Patty Morin, the mother of Rachel Morin, asking about her health and an upcoming surgery for her eyes.
"I gave her money to get her eyes fixed. A lot of money to get her eyes fixed. That doctor ripped me off. But that’s OK," Trump joked.
Morin said her surgery was scheduled for Wednesday after being delayed. "It was postponed because they said the grief caused me to have a heart attack," she said.
Her daughter, Rachel, was brutally raped and murdered by Salvadoran national Victor Martinez-Hernandez in August 2023. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the summer of 2025.
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"You're going to have 20/20 vision. You know she's almost blind. Cataracts. She's almost blind," Trump said. "He's an expensive doctor. Top of the line, right? But you know what? You're going to have 20/20 vision."
During the ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Trump honored families who have lost loved ones to crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
"Throughout this hall, I am joined by heartbroken Americans who have lost parents, siblings, children, grandchildren, and treasured loved ones to the scourge of illegal immigration, let in by the past administration," the president said.
"Under the Trump administration, their suffering is forgotten no longer," he told attendees.
Laken Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips, spoke at the event remembering her daughter, the 22-year-old nursing student who was killed by Venezuelan national José Ibarra while jogging on the University of Georgia campus in February 2024.
Several other family members also spoke during the ceremony, sharing personal stories about their loved ones.
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Steve Ronnebeck, whose 21-year-old son Grant was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant in Arizona, said the deaths were "preventable" and urged stronger enforcement of immigration laws.
"They could have been stopped. We could have done so much more," Ronnebeck said.
At the conclusion of the event, Trump signed a proclamation designating Feb. 22 as "National Angel Family Day."
"We stand with the Angel Families, many of whom continue to be left without justice," the White House said in a statement. "And we recommit to carrying out the largest mass-deportation effort in our Nation’s history, getting the worst of the worst out of our country, and putting a stop to the violence targeting the brave men and women of law enforcement."
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