Former President Donald Trump used a conversation he had with the family of murder victim Ruby Garcia as a talking point against illegal immigration.
However, according to Garcia’s family, that conversation never took place.
“I can confirm and assure you he did not speak with me or my immediate family,” Mavi Garcia, Ruby Garcia’s sister, told ABC’s Rachel Scott.
On Tuesday, Trump was speaking in Grand Rapids and tied Garcia’s death with illegal immigrants.
According to the Associated Press, police said her death was a result of a domestic dispute; Garcia and the suspect had been dating.
The suspected killer entered the country illegally from Mexico, according to border officials.
ABC News reported Trump called Garcia, who was 25, a “beautiful young woman [who] was savagely murdered by an illegal alien criminal.”
Trump blamed President Joe Biden for her death. He said “the suspect was deported under his administration but then was let back into the country under Biden,” per the outlet.
However, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said the suspect re-entered the U.S. after deportation “at an unknown date and location.”
Trump added on Tuesday that he talked with Garcia’s family and told the crowd, “They said she had just the most contagious laughter and when she walked into a room, she lit up that room, and I’ve heard that from so many people.”
The Trump campaign declined to comment, but sources said “they don’t share details of who they spoke with and what was said during private meetings unless given explicit permission by the families involved,” ABC News reported.
