WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order Tuesday renaming the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge in Texas as the “Jocelyn Nungaray National Refuge” to commemorate the 12-year-old Houston girl who was killed in June 2024.
Nungaray was allegedly murdered by two Venezuelan nationals with suspected ties to the Tren de Aragua gang, according to officials. The suspects had been released into the United States earlier in 2024 due to immigration policies under the Biden administration, the White House said.
“The Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge will bear her name as a lasting tribute to her love of animals and passion for finding them homes,” the administration stated.
Trump used the announcement to highlight his administration’s efforts to curb illegal immigration. The White House claimed that under Biden, the border was “overrun by cartels, criminal gangs, suspected terrorists, human traffickers, smugglers, and illicit narcotics,” and blamed previous policies for allowing undocumented migrants to remain in the U.S.
Since taking office in January, Trump has reinstated several restrictive immigration policies, including restarting border wall construction, deploying military personnel to the border, and resuming the “Remain in Mexico” program. His administration said border apprehensions are down 94% and that ICE arrests have surged by 627%.
The renaming of the wildlife refuge marks one of Trump’s first major actions to memorialize victims of crimes allegedly committed by undocumented immigrants, aligning with his broader push for stricter immigration enforcement.