Mom slams immigrant crackdown spurred by daughter’s death. ‘Reclaiming her legacy’
On Jan. 19, 20-year-old Katie Abraham was among two people killed when an immigrant accused of living in the U.S. illegally crashed into their vehicle in Urbana, Illinois, officials say.
Her death sparked Operation Midway Blitz, a Department of Homeland Security initiative that has reportedly led to 1,800 arrests as part of an immigration crackdown in Chicago.
Now, her mother is pushing back on the operation, saying her daughter “would not have wanted to be associated” with the campaign.
“I can no longer stay silent,” Denise Lorence, Abraham’s mom, said in an op-ed for the Chicago Tribune. “The Department of Homeland Security said its immigration enforcement operation in Chicago is named in Katie’s honor. But Katie would not have wanted this.”
Abraham was one of five people sitting at a red light near the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus when their vehicle was struck by the driver of a Mitsubishi Outlander, CNN reported. Abraham and her friend, 21-year-old Chloe Polzin, both died.
Police said the alleged drunk-driving crash was caused by Julio Cucul-Bol, a Guatemalan national, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Before Lorence’s recent comments about the DHS initiative, Abraham’s father and stepmother voiced their approval of the immigration takedown honoring his daughter. They both appeared in a DHS video when Operation Midway Blitz began.
“Let them leverage me. I’ll leverage them,” Joe Abraham told WCIA. “As long as another child doesn’t get killed or another parent has to go through what I am going through.”
Lorence, however, believes that because of her daughter’s “compassion and empathy,” she wouldn’t support the actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago.
“Katie avoided confrontation and tension. She had never spoken out on a political agenda; she was not an activist,” Lorence said in her op-ed. “She did not choose to be thrust into this political spotlight to advance an operation she knew nothing about.”
Writing on behalf of her daughter, Lorence said she is “reclaiming her legacy.”
“It was a drunk driver that killed her. It was bad decision making by a human being that killed her,” Lorence told WLS. “Whether or not she would believe in this operation is not what we’re here to talk about. … She’s being attached to it and she doesn’t have a voice to say if she wants to or not.”
In a statement to WLS, Joe Abraham said his daughter “would not sacrifice other people’s lives just for the sake of bringing in illegals.”
He said he gave the federal office his permission to honor his daughter with its operation, the outlet reported.
Lorence said in her op-ed she does not fault how he grieves but said her daughter’s views are inconsistent with those of the mission.
“Association with the operation’s actions is not a positive reflection of who she was,” she said. “I taught Katie to advocate for herself, and as heartbreaking as it is, Katie is no longer here to advocate for herself because of a crime that took place 150 miles from Chicago. She cannot advocate for herself and stand up to say ‘I am not a political pawn.’ So I am here for her.”
This story was originally published October 23, 2025 at 11:07 AM with the headline "Mom slams immigrant crackdown spurred by daughter’s death. ‘Reclaiming her legacy’."