An illegal immigrant killed my daughter — leftists march for Renee, not for Katie

As I read and watched the coverage coming out of Minneapolis about the tragic shooting of a woman allegedly attempting to run over a federal agent with her vehicle, two things immediately came to me. 

First, how demonstrators were being stoked, inflamed and used by politicians for self-serving purposes. Second — and far more personal — where was the outrage when my innocent 20-year-old daughter, Katie Abraham, was killed by an illegal alien shielded and protected by Illinois’ sanctuary policies? 

Katie’s killer was Julio Cucul-Bol. He was using an alias. He is currently being treated for an incurable communicable infectious disease, according to court transcripts. Yet when my daughter was violently killed, 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 riding in — stopped at a red light — was struck from behind at nearly 80 miles per hour by a drunk-driving illegal alien?

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Where was the outrage over how first responders had to pry the vehicle open like a tuna can to pull my daughter’s lifeless body from the wreckage? 

It also struck me how the same media figures, politicians and commentators now expressing outrage over the Minneapolis shooting have had nothing to say about Katie. Nothing. 

But these politicians had this to say about the ICE shooting:

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New York City Democrat Mayor Zohran Mamdani: “We know when ICE agents attack immigrants, they attack every single one of us across this country.” 

Chicago Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson: “We stand in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis and with all of those across the country whose lives have been torn apart due to reckless actions by Trump’s lawless, racist force.” 

Los Angeles Democrat Mayor Karen Bass: “it happened because of the brutal and racist policies of the Trump administration that unleashed these agents.”

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The hypocrisy is impossible to ignore. 

The night before the June 12, 2025, congressional hearings on sanctuary policies, my wife and I happened to be eating dinner at the same restaurant as Minnesota Democrat Gov. Tim Walz. I approached him, and we had a polite conversation. Walz offered his condolences for Katie’s death, which I appreciated. 

But the following day — while testifying in support of sanctuary policies — Walz did not say a single word about my daughter. Not one acknowledgment that Katie was violently killed by an illegal alien protected by the very policies he was championing.

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Instead, after the Jan. 7 shooting, he declared “that the Trump administration’s dangerous, sensationalized operations are a threat to our public safety.” 

At those same hearings, Illinois Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker and New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul also appeared. Yet my own governor, Pritzker, has offered Katie nothing but indifference, silence and disrespect. In my view, that is not compassion or humanity. It is entitlement — an aloof 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 Jan. 19, 2025, sanctuary policies continue to cause death and destruction. And our political leaders continue to double down.

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It also struck me how the same media figures, politicians and commentators now expressing outrage over the Minneapolis shooting have had 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 accountability. 

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 possess credible information about an individual’s identity, background, or risk to public safety. These policies did not just fail my daughter and the other victims that night. They failed every citizen. And they failed even the people they recklessly import for political gain. 

This is not immigration policy.  This is not compassion.  This is cruelty. 

Sanctuary policies are often defended as “humane,” but compassion without structure is neglect. A system that invites people in while refusing to vet them, guide them, or hold them accountable does not uplift the vulnerable — it abandons them. 

This is not sympathetic governance. It is systemic irresponsibility. 

By refusing to cooperate with federal authorities, Illinois removed every guardrail that might have prevented tragedy. No meaningful background checks. No identity confirmation. No monitoring. 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, audit, or reassess these policies. There is no serious effort to implement even basic safeguards such as identity verification, health screening, language services, or lawful employment pathways—measures that would protect both residents and newcomers. 

At those same hearings, Illinois Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker and New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul also appeared. Yet my own governor, Pritzker, has offered Katie nothing but indifference, silence and disrespect. 

Instead, officials hide behind slogans and accuse critics of lacking compassion. Their hyperbolic language inflames tensions rather than easing them. But that chaos is the point—it creates distraction, deflection, and political cover for failed policy. I would also argue that it inflamed activists like Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year old who was shot dead by an ICE officer? Her death is now being used as canon fodder against ICE, DHS, and the Trump Administration.

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Where is the humanity in all of this?  

Policies must be judged by outcomes, not intentions. When a system repeatedly produces preventable death, injury, fraud, and disorder, it is broken. 

Illinois and other sanctuary states can—and must—do better. We need policies that are both lawful 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 is failure. 

If our leaders are unwilling to confront the consequences of their decisions, they should step aside. And if they refuse, citizens must demand better leadership at the ballot box.

We deserve safety.  We deserve accountability.  And we deserve leaders who value human life over political rhetoric. 

Sanctuary states have failed us all. They must do better. 

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