Tipsheet

Here's Why an Illegal Alien Convicted of Murder Is Suing President Trump

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  July 21, 2026 11:50 AM

In 2024, Ruby Garcia was driving with her boyfriend, 26-year-old Brandon Ortiz Vite. The two were arguing about something, and during that argument, Ortiz Vite pulled out a gun and shot Garcia multiple times, including in the head; he then took Garcia's body out of the car and drove off; her body was later found along the side of a Grand Rapids, Michigan, highway. Ruby Garcia was just 25 years old.

Ortiz Vite later pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 39 years in a Michigan prison. President Trump later used Garcia's murder as proof America needed tougher immigration laws; Ortiz Vite, a Mexican national, had previously been deported but was let back into the country under the Biden administration. President Trump also showed a picture of Ortiz Vite while making his case for immigration enforcement.

Now, Ortiz Vite is attempting to sue President Trump, demanding $75.5 million, an apology, and citizenship. He claims being mentioned during the 2024 campaign "shattered [his] dignity" and "brought shame to [his] family."

Here's more:

An illegal alien killer highlighted by President Donald Trump’s campaign in 2024 wants $75.5 million and “naturalization to this beautiful country,” as well as an apology from the 47th POTUS.

“I was put into a category. Who I was as a person no longer mattered! What only mattered was my race, my case, and immigration status. Once again it belittled me, shattered my dignity and what I was as a person,” Mexican national Brandon Ortiz-Vite wrote in a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court.

“The shame it brought to my family name is a reality I have to live with now,” he wrote. “I took full responsibility for my actions, but for them to use my case for political gain on T.V. was unjust. Humiliating. When I thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. I was center stage in front of a nation, public scrutiny at its finest.”

Ortiz Vite says he was mocked and made an outcast by fellow inmates when he was housed at the Kent County Correctional Facility, and that he was a "political sacrifice" who made the plea deal due to publicity surrounding his case.

The only reason Ortiz Vite was mentioned by President Trump was that he decided to break our immigration laws and then murdered his girlfriend in cold blood before dumping her body on the side of the road. Had Ortiz Vite not made those bad choices, President Trump and the rest of America would never have mentioned his name. That's the same reason why he was mocked by his fellow inmates and is behind bars in the first place.

Kent County Circuit Court Judge Mark Trusock called Ortiz Vite a "cold-blooded murderer" and said, "This is an intentional crime, and you are a danger to society. You are a very violent individual, and you need to be removed from society."

If Ortiz Vite was hoping to garner sympathy for his cause, he didn't get much of it. 

Without The Midwesterner, we may never have known that Ortiz Vite was an illegal alien.

The Department of Homeland Security slammed him, too.

As did Joe Abraham, the father of Katie Abraham, who was also murdered by an illegal alien.

"It's astonishing that we've reached a point where the debate seems to focus on what offenders deserve before asking what victims deserve," Abraham wrote on X. "Then what do innocent victims like Katie deserve from the government that failed to protect them?"

The Midwesterner, thankfully, reports that Ortiz Vite's lawsuit is likely going nowhere. Grand Rapids attorney and former federal prosecutor Matthew Borgula told the outlet, "Based on my experience, I do not think this lawsuit is going anywhere."

"Presidential immunity covers official acts, and campaign statements can fall outside it," Borgula added, "but this suit fails for more basic reasons. The statements were substantially true, and being publicly embarrassed by a politician isn't a constitutional violation. This case should end before it begins."