When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reached out to ask if they could honor my daughter Katie through ”Operation Midway Blitz,” I had questions. I couldn’t agree to anything in my daughter’s name sight unseen. But after speaking with DHS and understanding the goals of this operation — to enforce the laws that are supposed to protect families like mine and to amplify Katie’s tragic story — I was convinced that her death would not be in vain.  

Katie was violently killed on Jan. 19, 2025, in a way no parent should ever have to imagine. She was a passenger in a car stopped at a red light when an illegal alien, driving drunk at nearly 80 miles per hour, slammed into the back of their vehicle. The driver, Julio Cucul-Bol, a Guatemalan national in the country illegally and using false Mexican identification, stole from us a bright, loving young woman with her whole life ahead of her.  

Adding to the horror of that night, after violently destroying the car and the lives inside it, he fled the scene — without a second thought to the people he had just maimed and killed. He didn’t try to render aid. He didn’t call for help. He ran, selfishly and cowardly, leaving others to face the devastation he caused.   

That’s the true measure of the man who should never have been in our country to begin with.

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It seems painfully simple: if this man had not been allowed into our country against federal law, he would not have been on that road, and my daughter would be alive today. If Illinois had real leadership willing to prioritize public safety over politics — and if the state hadn’t doubled down on the sanctuary policies that shielded this coward — Katie might still be with us.  

For months, I’ve been saying that it’s far easier to prevent chaos on the front end than to clean up tragedies like mine on the back end. An ounce of prevention always beats a pound of cure. I’ve consistently challenged Illinois politicians to explain how they had planned to balance public safety with their open-border and sanctuary policies. The silence has been deafening.  

And I’ve asked repeatedly: what controls or audit processes were ever put in place once Illinois politicians opened the back door to anyone and everyone? Who was making sure our communities were safe? Who was tracking who came in, where they were going, or how they were being supported?

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Instead of acting with compassion or foresight, Illinois leaders encouraged and even incentivized illegal immigration, sending a dangerous message that anyone could come here without consequence. That’s not compassion — that’s cruelty. It shows no regard for the safety of residents and no empathy for the struggles, abuse and exploitation suffered by the very people making that perilous journey.  

After Katie’s death, I met with dozens of DHS and ICE agents and support staff in Chicago. I also sat down with Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, and we spoke at length about how open-border policies are tearing apart our communities. The contrast couldn’t have been more stark. I was struck by their professionalism, compassion and dedication. These men and women are not the villains that some politicians and activists make them out to be. They are Americans trying to do their jobs — to restore order and balance after years of dangerous neglect. Each of the dozens of men and women I met were competent, professional and deeply committed to keeping our communities safer.  

I can’t help but wonder if any of ICE’s critics have ever taken the time to sit across from one of these agents or staff members. If they did, I believe they’d see what I saw: dedicated Americans working tirelessly to make our communities safer.

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Illinois politicians have shown no such compassion. They ignored Katie’s story because acknowledging it would mean admitting the failures of their policies. It appears their silence is not about grief or guilt — it’s about political self-preservation. Maintaining inflated census numbers and congressional seats seems to matter more than protecting innocent lives.  

Instead of acting with compassion or foresight, Illinois leaders encouraged and even incentivized illegal immigration, sending a dangerous message that anyone could come here without consequence. 

Katie lost her life to their cynical game of Russian roulette. And with her, we lost everything she might have become — her future, her chance to marry, to have children. I will never walk her down the aisle. I will never hold her children. Those are the real consequences of failed leadership.

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Our current Illinois politicians should slink away in shame, never to hold any public office ever again.  

That’s why I support “Operation Midway Blitz,” because it’s time to bring accountability back to our immigration system. It’s time to put the safety of Americans ahead of political games. And it’s time to honor Katie — not just with words, but with action.