Photo: Alamy
The Trump administration renamed a Texas wildlife refuge in a ceremony on Thursday to honor Jocelyn Nungaray, a Houston girl killed by two illegal immigrants.
Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge was changed to the Jocelyn Nungaray Wildlife Refuge in an event led by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.
“Let this land speak her name. Let its quiet strength echo her spirit. And let it stand as a testament that her life mattered,” Burgum said. “And that her story, however heartbreakingly brief, needs to be told and retold and never forgotten.”
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott also reflected on Jocelyn’s life during the ceremony.
“May Jocelyn’s family find peace in the tranquility of the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge. It’s a lasting tribute to a beautiful young soul taken from us too soon,” Abbott said.
Alexis Nungaray, Jocelyn’s mother, attended the event. President Donald Trump surprised her during a March speech to a joint session of Congress by announcing that he would rename the refuge after her late daughter. The renaming occurred on March 10, with the official ceremony held on Thursday.
Burgum also posted pictures to X of the new sign for the wildlife refuge in South Texas.
“Honored to join the Nungaray family at the Jocelyn Nungaray Wildlife Refuge in Texas, renamed by @POTUS, to commemorate Jocelyn’s life that was taken far too soon by illegal immigrants. Today, and every day, we pay tribute to her memory in a place that ensures her name will always be remembered!” he wrote.
First established in 1963, the wildlife refuge’s website says it “provides and manages protected habitat for resident and migratory birds including waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds, song birds, and raptors. The refuge contains over 37,000 acres of diverse coastal wetlands ranging from freshwater marsh to salt marsh that borders East Galveston Bay and the Gulf of America. These habitats are home to an abundance of wildlife.”