During a speech at a Grand Rapids, Michigan, rally, former President Donald Trump made comments regarding the death of Ruby Garcia.
In his remarks, Trump said he had spoken with Garcia’s family regarding local authorities, saying Brandon Ortiz-Vite, who entered the country illegally, was accused of the death of Garcia. However, Garcia’s sister said a conversation between her family and Trump did not happen.
“He did not speak with any of us, so it was kind of shocking seeing that he had said that he had spoke with us,” Mavi Garcia told Target 8.
“I kind of stopped watching it. I’d only seen up to that, after I heard a couple of misinformations he said, I just stopped watching it,” she added.
In his speech on Tuesday, Trump spotlighted the recent death of Garcia to critique Biden’s handling of immigration and the southern border.
Trump blamed President Joe Biden for Garcia’s death, claiming that although the suspect was deported during his administration, he was subsequently allowed back into the country under Biden’s leadership.
However, according to ABC News, “An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said in a statement that the suspect actually re-entered the U.S. after deportation ‘at an unknown date and location.’”
“She lit up that room, and I’ve heard that from so many people,” Trump said in his speech, per Axios. “I spoke to some of her family.”
Garcia told Target 8 that she is frustrated with politicians and others for making her sister’s death political.
“It’s always been about illegal immigrants,” Garcia said. “Nobody really speaks about when Americans do heinous crimes, and it’s kind of shocking why he would just bring up illegals. What about Americans who do heinous crimes like that?”
“She was a very happy person, a very generous person,” she recounted of her sister. “She was always so happy. Could light up a room.”