A father who lost his daughter to an undocumented drunk driver will now run the government office created to support people in his position. That office, VOICE, short for Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement, is a unit inside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that connects crime victims and their families to federal resources. Joe Abraham, whose daughter Katie Abraham, 20, was killed along with her friend Chloe Polzin in a January 2025 hit-and-run, was named executive director.
The driver, Julio Cucul-Bol, a Guatemalan national, pleaded guilty to aggravated driving under the influence resulting in death and leaving the scene of a fatal crash. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Abraham said the role is personal. "I am excited to accept the Executive Director role at VOICE because this is not simply a government position for me, it is deeply personal and rooted in a mission I have come to understand through unimaginable loss," he said. He added that he wants victims and their families heard and treated with dignity inside the immigration system.
Since Katie's death, Abraham has advocated for stricter immigration enforcement. He is credited as the inspiration behind Operation Midway Blitz, a federal enforcement operation in the Chicago area that ran from September to December 2025. The Department of Homeland Security reported that the operation resulted in more than 4,000 arrests. Democrats heavily protested it.
How the office operates
The VOICE office was closed during the Biden administration. President Donald Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security to revive it when he returned to office, and it reopened in April 2025. A report published in June said the office had received 897 total calls from victims, family members, and advocates since reopening. It helped 588 victims and assisted 185 family members seeking services and information. Assault accounted for 35% of crimes reported to the office, rape and sexual assault 17%, and homicide and manslaughter 10%.
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said Abraham was the right choice, describing him as a consistent critic of sanctuary policies in Illinois and a voice for families the administration says were harmed by those policies. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has maintained an ongoing dispute with the Trump administration over sanctuary policy and cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Operation Midway Blitz, the enforcement action Abraham is credited with inspiring, was centered in the Chicago area. That is the same jurisdiction at the heart of the administration's feud with Pritzker.