Trump Grants Visa to Mother of Javits Frimpong After Mamdani Plea

“The murder of a child is a pain no parent should have to endure, let alone from thousands of miles away,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on X.

Following a phone call with President Donald Trump on Saturday, the administration agreed to immediately grant a visa to the mother of Javits Frimpong, a 15-year-old immigrant from Ghana who was shot and killed in the Bronx earlier in the week.

The fatal shooting occurred shortly before 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. Frimpong was walking to school in the Claremont neighborhood when he was struck in the abdomen by a bullet. Harrowing surveillance video reviewed by law enforcement showed the teenager sprinting for his life alongside another person dressed all in black before he collapsed near East 171 Street and Third Avenue.

First responders initially listed the boy in stable condition, but he later succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital. Police have not yet made any arrests, and the investigation into a suspect or a motive remains ongoing.

An Immigrant’s New Life Cut Short

Frimpong had moved to New York from Ghana a year ago to live with his father, Thomas Frimpong, and start a new life in the United States, according to U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from the Bronx.

President Donald Trump has agreed to grant a visa to Javits Frimpong's mother so she can travel from Ghana to New York to say goodbye to her son, according to Mayor Zohran Mamdani.Mamdani says he spoke directly with Trump, who agreed to grant the visa immediately following the… pic.twitter.com/YU6W81ATTU

— https://x.com/ghanaspora/status/2116605928359256326

Our entire borough is mourning a young man who should have had his whole future ahead of him. Every child in the Bronx deserves to walk to school without fearing for their life, and no parent should ever have to endure what Javits’s father, Thomas, is enduring now.

Thomas Frimpong described his son as a quiet teenager who spent much of his time on his cellphone. In the days leading up to the killing, the elder Frimpong learned that his son had been targeted by bullies. He recounted that the principal of The DreamYard Preparatory School had informed him that two boys were disturbing Javits and had been suspended as a result. When the father called his son to check on him following the incident, the boy simply replied, “Dad, I’m OK.”

Diplomatic Coordination and Unanswered Questions

Foreign Minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa posted on X to thank both Mamdani and Trump, noting that Ghanaian authorities in New York were coordinating directly with local authorities and that the foreign ministry would work tirelessly with U.S. authorities to ensure justice is secured.

While local officials and foreign ministers have moved quickly to assist the boy’s mother with the visa application process so she can travel to New York to mourn her son in person, the White House did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press confirming the administration would be issuing the visa.