During his joint address to Congress on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump delivered a powerful and deeply emotional moment, announcing that he had signed an executive order renaming a Texas wildlife refuge in honor of Jocelyn Nungaray, the 12-year-old girl who was brutally murdered last year in Houston.
The Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge near Houston will now be called the Jocelyn Nungaray National Refuge, ensuring that her name—and the tragedy that took her life—will never be forgotten.
Trump, visibly moved, recounted the horrific details of Jocelyn’s final moments. “Last June, Alexis Nungaray’s 12-year-old daughter, her precious Jocelyn, walked to a nearby convenience store,” he said. “She was kidnapped, tied up, and assaulted for two hours under a bridge and horrifically murdered. Arrested and charged with this heinous crime are two illegal alien monsters from Venezuela.”
He then laid the blame squarely on the previous administration’s immigration policies. “Released into America by the last administration through their ridiculous open border,” Trump said. “The death of this beautiful 12-year-old girl and the agony of her mother and family touched our entire nation, greatly.”
Turning directly to Jocelyn’s mother, Alexis, who was seated in the audience as a special guest of First Lady Melania Trump, he made a solemn vow: “Alexis, I promised that we would always remember your daughter… and earlier tonight, I signed an order keeping my word to you.”
Holding up the signed executive order from the podium, Trump’s gesture was met with a wave of emotion. Alexis, overcome, mouthed the words “thank you” to the president—a moment that left the chamber silent, the weight of the tragedy hanging in the air.
According to the White House, Jocelyn’s alleged killers, both illegal immigrants from Venezuela, are reputed members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The suspects face charges of capital murder, kidnapping, and aggravated sexual assault.
Officials confirmed that the two men had illegally crossed into the U.S. in early 2024 but were released into the country under the Biden administration’s border policies—only to go on and commit one of the most appalling crimes in recent memory.