New York (CNN)Private Emmanuel Mensah went off to serve in the Army National Guard, but it was back home where he made the ultimate sacrifice.

Mensah died trying to rescue people from his burning apartment building last month in the Bronx, New York, in the city's deadliest fire in more than 25 years, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

Mensah, 28, had immigrated from Ghana in Africa and was a permanent legal resident in the US. His story has taken on new meaning in the wake of President Donald Trump's reported vulgar comments about immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and some African countries.

"Why do we want all these people from shithole countries coming here?" Trump told senators in the Oval Office, a source briefed on the meeting told CNN.