Mollie Tibbetts's mom has taken in a 17-year-old undocumented immigrant

In the four months since investigators charged an undocumented immigrant with the death of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts, the vitriol surrounding the tragedy has mostly died down. But the mother of the Iowa student — who disappeared while out jogging — is still pushing back against the angry rhetoric it drew from President Trump, specifically by taking in a teenage undocumented immigrant.

The Washington Post broke the news Friday in a profile of Tibbetts’s mom, Laura Calderwood, who is still reeling after the death of her daughter. Described as a “lifelong liberal,” the 55-year-old Calderwood says she was angered when Trump used her daughter’s death as a rallying cry to fix the immigration system. “You saw what happened to that incredible, beautiful young woman…,” Trump said during a rally in West Virginia, just hours after police arrested Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the alleged killer. “The laws are so bad, the immigration laws are such a disgrace.”

Multiple family members spoke out against Trump’s comments at the time — including the victim’s father — saying that it was the opposite of what Tibbetts would have wanted. But for the remaining undocumented immigrants living at Yarrabee Farms, where Rivera worked, it was too late. Hate mail, threatening phone calls and legitimate threats reportedly began pouring in, warning the undocumented immigrants who remained there that they would be either deported or killed.

Terrified by the threats, many of the workers chose to flee — including the parents of Ulises Felix, a 17-year-old high schooler and classmate of Tibbetts’s brother, Scott. When Felix found himself alone on the farm, he texted Scott asking for help. That prompted an unorthodox request from Scott to his mom: Could the family take in Felix? Calderwood’s decision, it seems, was guided by her late daughter.

“The immigrant families who worked there were fleeing,” Washington Post writer Terrence McCoy said. “Laura thought of Mollie. She would argue that the farmworkers didn’t deserve this, that they were only trying to earn a living. What would she say about Ulises? Bring him in? Laura thought that his father may be undocumented and worried about attracting unwanted attention, but again, what would Mollie say?”

Calderwood ultimately concluded that what her daughter would want is for her family to treat Felix like any other human being and give him shelter. So, just months after an undocumented immigrant pleaded not guilty to killing her daughter, Calderwood agreed to give Felix a temporary home. He is now staying in the family’s spare bedroom, finishing his final year of high school.

In the hours since the article was released, many on Twitter have begun praising Calderwood’s selflessness — and ability to be gracious in the midst of tragedy. “Even after the most horrific violent tragedy happens to someone you love, it’s still possible not to be a hateful racist who stereotypes and generalizes about an entire group of marginalized, oppressed people. #mollietibbetts” wrote one Twitter user. “Such an example for all of us,” added another.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• Mollie Tibbetts killing drives women to share harrowing stories of harassment while running

• The Mollie Tibbetts killing is not about immigration, it’s about toxic masculinity

• Mollie Tibbetts’s cousin responds to claims that her loved one’s murder is a political issue

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