A post by DHS on Mother’s Day came under fire for trying to politicize grieving mothers’ messages. The post included various documented messages from angel moms, set to a black-and-white filter. Angel moms refer to mothers who have lost their children to crimes committed by undocumented immigrants.
Funny how you guys don’t wanna post that 117 people are shot and killed everyday in the country by other citizens and don’t politicize that at all.
— John Thompson (@john_thompsrc0i) May 10, 2026
“This Mother’s Day, we especially honor Angel Moms,” the caption read. “Words cannot describe the pain of losing a child. Knowing their child’s deaths were entirely preventable only adds to the pain these brave women face every day. They are our why.” An official DHS press release condemned the Biden administration’s handling of illegal immigrants for such crimes. It also continued the accounts by angel moms.
Maureen Maloney recalled memories of her son, stating how he “had a great sense of humor and beautiful eyes that lit up a room.” Maloney’s son, Matthew Denice, 23, was killed in a drunk driving accident by an illegal immigrant, according to the DHS. “When he was in high school, he was voted as ‘most dependable.’ Everyone loved him,” the angel mother recalled.
“He was the kind of guy that would go to parties, pick people up and drop them back off at home. He cared deeply for people. People always say ‘the happiest day of my life was…’ but I’ll never get to say that ever again in life, since the moment my son was taken from me.” That said, the DHS video titled “This is our why” was criticized by many users for trying to politicize people’s deaths.
What about the Gold Star mom's? There are 13 new ones or more this year, over a war of choice! Trump chose to send them to die! Easy choice I guess when no one in his family ever served, John Baron had nothing to lose 😡 pic.twitter.com/vfxfYULvEx
— America First Lioness 🇺🇲~Justice for Charlie~ (@ShanonLee_AF) May 10, 2026
“I’m a gold star brother. Please do not spit in my face. Your administration is led by a convicted draft dodging felon who said my brother was a sucker and loser,” one user wrote on X.
Another user criticized the DHS account for the message writing: “What an incredibly contemptible message on Mother’s Day. You people are grotesque. Politicizing every day of the year.” Another user pointed to the ongoing Iran conflict, accusing the U.S. of supporting Israel’s military campaign.
“Most days I think about the Angel Mothers that your boss created by murdering a full elementary school in Iran to spark a global economic crisis that he and his family have benefited from greatly,” a third user wrote in the comments. One user tried to highlight the problem of school shootings in America. They pointed to the number of people who lose their lives to it.
“Funny how you guys don’t wanna post that 117 people are shot and killed every day in the country by other citizens and don’t politicize that at all,” the user wrote. A similar claim was debunked by Reuters in 2024. “Less than 500 people a year are killed by rifles… let’s ban them,” an image from social media read. “Over 4,000 people a year are killed by illegals… let’s give them $2,200 a month taxpayer assistance, register them to vote in our elections and keep the border wide open to invite more of them into our country.”
The image was intended to make an ironic point, suggesting that illegal immigration is responsible for more deaths than gun violence. That said, Reuters debunked the claim, stating that the number “4,000” was skewed and had no factual basis to it.
