Father Blames Illinois Sanctuary Policies After Daughter’s Killing by Previously Deported Drunk Driver

Joe Abraham, whose 20‑year‑old daughter Katie was killed in a Jan. 19, 2025 hit‑and‑run in Urbana, Illinois, is publicly tying her death to what he calls the state’s failed border and sanctuary policies and says top Democrats have ignored him. Police say Guatemalan national Julio Cucul‑Bol, who had been deported previously and was allegedly driving drunk about 80 mph, slammed into the stopped Honda Civic carrying Katie and friends, fled the scene, and was later arrested near Dallas with fake Mexican ID while heading toward Matamoros, Mexico; he accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. DHS has named an immigration‑enforcement surge 'Operation Midway Blitz' in Katie’s honor and is using the case to highlight what it calls 'criminal illegal immigrants' protected by sanctuary jurisdictions, while Abraham says Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth have never contacted him, even when he attended a congressional hearing where his daughter’s case was cited. The piece is part victim testimony, part political messaging: Abraham appears in a video for 'The American Border Story,' a national initiative backed by immigration‑restriction advocates, urging would‑be migrants to 'do things the right way' and demanding state leaders acknowledge the human cost when repeat immigration violators are on U.S. roads. The case is fueling online arguments over whether it proves sanctuary policies endanger residents or is being used as a single, horrific anecdote to sell a broader partisan crackdown that still lacks transparent data on how often such repeat‑entry DUIs occur.