As I read and watched the reporting from Minneapolis about the tragic shooting of a woman who allegedly tried to run over a federal agent with her car, two things immediately struck me.
First, how protesters were incited, incited and used by politicians for self-interest. Second – and much more personal – where was the outrage when my innocent 20-year-old daughter, Katie Abraham, was murdered by an illegal alien shielded and protected by Illinois policy?
Katie’s killer was Julio Cucul-Bol. He used an alias. According to court transcripts, he is currently being treated for an incurable, communicable infectious disease. But when my daughter was violently murdered, there were no viral videos, no breathless media panels, no emotional press conferences and no candlelight vigils amplified by politicians and pundits.
Where were the stories about how the car Katie was driving – stopped at a red light – was hit from behind at almost 80 miles per hour by an illegal alien driving illegally?
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DHS launched “Operation Midway Blitz” in honor of Katie Abraham, who died in a drunken car crash caused by a criminal illegal alien on the Illinois reservation. (Department of Homeland Security)
Where was the outrage at how emergency responders had to pry open the vehicle like a tuna can to remove my daughter’s lifeless body from the wreckage?
I was also struck by the fact that the same media figures, politicians and commentators who are now expressing outrage over the Minneapolis shooting have nothing to say about Katie. Nothing.
But these politicians had this to say about the ICE shooting:
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New York Democrat Mayor Zohran Mamdani: “We know that when ICE agents attack immigrants, they attack all of us in this country.”
Chicago Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson said: “We stand in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis and everyone across the country whose lives have been torn apart as a result of the reckless actions of Trump’s lawless, racist force.”
Los Angeles Democrat Mayor Karen Bass said: “It happened because of the Trump administration’s brutal and racist policies that unleashed these officers.”
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The hypocrisy is impossible to ignore.
The night before the Congressional hearings on sanctuary policy on June 12, 2025, my wife and I happened to be eating at the same restaurant as Minnesota’s Democrat Governor Tim Walz. I approached him and we had a polite conversation. Walz offered his condolences for Katie’s death, which I appreciated.
President Donald Trump holds a photo of Katie Abraham, pictured right, as her father Joe Abraham, left, looks on during an event promoting Trump’s domestic policy and budget agenda in the East Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
But the next day, while testifying in support of shelter policies, Walz didn’t say a single word about my daughter. No acknowledgment whatsoever that Katie was violently murdered by an illegal alien, protected by the policies he championed.
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Instead, after the Jan. 7 shooting, he declared “that the Trump administration’s dangerous, sensational operations threaten our public safety.”
Also appearing at the same hearings were Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker and New York Democrat Kathy Hochul. Yet my own Governor, Pritzker, has offered Katie nothing but indifference, silence and disrespect. I don’t think that is compassion or humanity. It’s a right: a detached billionaire insulated from the consequences of his policies, exempt from the harm they cause, just like the illegal aliens he protects.
As we approach the one-year anniversary of Katie’s death on January 19, 2025, shelter policies continue to cause death and destruction. And our political leaders continue to double their profits.
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I was also struck by the fact that the same media figures, politicians and commentators who are now expressing outrage over the Minneapolis shooting have nothing to say about Katie. Nothing.
Katie’s death was not a random act of fate. It was the predictable outcome of policy decisions made by Illinois leaders who chose ideology over responsibility.
States like Illinois and Minnesota have effectively nullified federal immigration law through sanctuary statutes that refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement — even when authorities have credible information about an individual’s identity, background, or risk to public safety. This policy failed not only my daughter and the other victims that evening. They abandoned every citizen. And they have even abandoned the people they recklessly import for political gain.
This is not an immigration policy. This is not compassion. This is cruelty.
Shelter policies are often defended as “humane,” but compassion without structure is neglect. A system that invites people in and refuses to vet, guide or hold them accountable does not lift up the vulnerable – it abandons them.
This is not a sympathetic administration. It’s systemic irresponsibility.
By refusing to cooperate with federal authorities, Illinois removed every guardrail that could have prevented a tragedy. No meaningful background checks. No identity confirmation. No supervision. No intervention – until it was too late.
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Katie paid with her life.
And while my family grieves, Illinois leaders refuse to pause, monitor or reassess these policies. There have been no serious attempts to introduce even basic safeguards such as identity verification, health screening, language services or legal employment pathways – measures that would protect both residents and newcomers.
Also appearing at the same hearings were Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker and New York Democrat Kathy Hochul. Yet my own Governor, Pritzker, has offered Katie nothing but indifference, silence and disrespect.
Instead, officials hide behind slogans and accuse critics of a lack of compassion. Their hyperbolic language fuels tensions instead of easing them. But that chaos is what matters: it creates distraction, diversion and political cover for failed policies. I would also argue that it inflamed activists like Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old who was shot and killed by an ICE officer? Her death is now being used as cannon fodder against ICE, DHS and the Trump administration.
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Where is the humanity in all of this?
Policies should be judged on results, not intentions. When a system repeatedly causes preventable death, injury, fraud and disorder, it is broken.
Illinois and other sanctuary states can – and should – do better. We need policies that are both legal and humane. Policies that enforce the law while providing real structure, oversight and accountability. Policies that protect communities without dehumanizing anyone.
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Sacrificing people like Katie is not moral leadership. It’s a failure.
If our leaders are unwilling to face the consequences of their decisions, they must step aside. And if they refuse, citizens must demand better leadership at the ballot box.
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We deserve safety. We deserve responsibility. And we deserve leaders who value human life over political rhetoric.
Sanctuary states have failed us all. They have to do better.
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