Angel dad Joe Abraham takes lead of ICE office aiding crime victims' families

WASHINGTON - Joe Abraham began leading ICE's Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement office on Friday, telling Fox News Digital that his daughter's killing by an illegal alien flipped his life and gave him a mission to help other families.

Katie Abraham was killed in Illinois in January 2025 when Guatemalan national Julio Cucul-Bol, who was in the country illegally and using an assumed Mexican identity, drove drunk and later fled toward Mexico, Fox News reported. He was caught in Texas, pleaded guilty to charges including aggravated DUI resulting in death and leaving the scene of a fatal crash, and was sentenced to 30 years.

Abraham said he had been living a simple life aimed at retirement and watching his kids. "My whole world is upside down," he said on his first day at VOICE. Katie's case helped inspire ICE's Operation Midway Blitz, which netted more than 4,000 illegal alien arrests in the Chicago area late last year, according to the report.

Abraham said Illinois officials gave him little support. He testified at a June 2025 congressional oversight hearing on sanctuary policies and said Democratic governors including JB Pritzker refused to acknowledge him. He found a different reception from President Donald Trump, who invited angel families to the White House. That path led to communications work with DHS and now the VOICE post.

President Trump directed DHS to revive VOICE in his second term after the office had been shuttered. A June report cited by Fox News said VOICE had received 897 calls from victims, family members, and advocates and helped 588 victims seeking assistance, plus 185 family members. The most reported crimes were assault at 35 percent, rape and sexual assault at 17 percent, and homicide and manslaughter at 10 percent.

Abraham said he wants VOICE to be a single place where victims feel heard and can find case information and grief services instead of chasing six separate offices while still in shock. Pritzker's office did not immediately comment, Fox News said.