White House issues heartfelt message to mother of son executed by illegal alien

The White House said “no one” would change the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda in response to a call from Angel Mom Angie Morfin.

Morfin, whose 13-year-old son Ruben was executed by an illegal alien gang member, made a heartfelt appeal to the administration to “make sure no other mother has to receive the call I received.” This comes as the new head of Homeland Security, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, goes through the Senate confirmation process and is expected to take the reins of the agency at the end of the month.

Morfin stressed that she hopes Mullin, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, “will continue to listen to Angel Families and stand with us.”

In response, Lauren Bis, acting deputy secretary of DHS, told Fox News Digital that “our hearts are broken for the families and victims of alien crime who have been completely abandoned and ignored by sanctuary politicians.”

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The mother of Ruben Morfin (R), who was executed by an illegal immigrant, asked new DHS chief Sen. Markwayne Mullin to “make sure no other mother has to receive the call I received.” (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images; courtesy of The American Border Story)

Bis wrote in an emailed statement that “That’s why we do what we do.” She noted that DHS is “currently targeting dangerous illegal alien criminals to stop another preventable tragedy.”

According to Bis, nearly 70 percent of arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement involve illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the United States.

“Under President Trump’s leadership,” Bis continued, “DHS is prioritizing the lives of innocent Americans who are victims of illegal aliens.”

Meanwhile, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement that “no one is changing the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.”

Jackson said President Donald Trump’s “highest priority has always been the deportation of criminal illegal aliens who endanger American communities.”

She noted that “thanks to President Trump’s strict immigration policies, approximately 3 million illegal immigrants have left the United States, either through forced or self-deportation, and not a single illegal alien has crossed the most secure border in U.S. history for nine consecutive months.”

In a recent interview with The American Border Story, shared exclusively with Fox News Digital, Morfin said his family remains devastated decades after losing his son, Ruben.

“I’m crying for him today, like it was yesterday,” she shared.

In the winter of 1990, Ruben, a young Hispanic teenager with no gang affiliation, was chased down and shot in the back of the head by Mexican national Ezequiel Mariscal in Salinas, California. Morfin said she sent Ruben to her grandparents over the holidays because of concerns about gangs in their area.

Then one night, just after midnight, Morfin said she received a call.

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Senate President Rand Paul of Kentucky speaks as Senator Markwayne Mullin, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security, testifies before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 18, 2026. (REUTERS/Evan Vucci | Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images)

“I picked up the phone and I could hear my mother screaming, ‘They shot Nino, they shot Nino.’ I knew it was my baby because that’s what we called him, because he was so little,” she said.

Since losing her son, Morfin said she has fought for the past 34 years “to keep his memory alive, so that he did not die in vain.” She stressed that she hopes Mullin, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, “will continue to listen to Angel Families and stand with us as we fight to make sure no other mother has to receive the call I received.”

Mullin is currently undergoing an intense Senate confirmation process, during which several Democrats, as well as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have expressed extreme skepticism about his leadership. Meanwhile, Mullin said in his opening statement that “as Homeland Secretary, I will protect everyone…as much as I protect my own backyard in Oklahoma.”

“The truth is I have a job to do,” Mullin added. “It’s bigger than the partisan bickering that we have, it’s bigger than the political differences that we have.”

In response to Morfin’s call before the Senate confirmation vote, Mullin’s Senate office referred Fox News Digital to the White House.

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A photo of Ruben’s killer, Mexican illegal alien and Posole gang member Ezequiel Mariscal. (Courtesy of The American Border Story)

Nicole Kiprilov, executive director of The American Border Story, an advocacy group for victims of migrant crime, told Fox News Digital that, like DHS, “our hearts go out to Angie Morfin and every Angel family living with a loss that should never have happened.”

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Kiprilov said, “we appreciate DHS’s leadership and commitment to supporting these families and preventing future tragedies,” noting that “just last week, we worked alongside ICE, DHS and members of Congress to bring Angel families to the table, ensuring their voices are heard and their stories lead to real policy change.”

“This is exactly the kind of leadership we need to ensure that no family is ever ignored again,” Kiprilov said.