The Department of Homeland Security on Monday said it is dedicating a Chicago deportation “blitz” to Katie Abraham, one of two women killed in an Urbana drunken driving crash earlier this year, allegedly by a Guatemalan man who lacked legal status and fled the scene.
President Donald Trump and Republicans had previously highlighted the case and called Abraham’s family “angel parents,” a term the administration has used to describe relatives of victims killed by people who lack legal status.
Both of Abraham’s parents also attended a June 12 House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing centered on immigration policy, which featured several hours of testimony by Gov. JB Pritzker with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Abraham, 20, of Glenview, and 21-year-old Chloe Polzin of Deerfield, were killed in a Jan. 19 hit-and-run crash while visiting the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Three others in the car were also injured.
According to Urbana police, the U.S. Marshal’s Service captured the driver Jan. 22 in Milford, Texas, as he rode a bus heading to Mexico. An initial arrest warrant identified the man as Juan Jahaziel Saenz-Suarez, a 27-year-old Mexican national living in Urbana, and he was charged with reckless homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal injury crash. But police later learned the man used an alias and had falsified Mexican paperwork. New charges were filed against Julio Cucul-Bol, a 29-year-old citizen of Guatemala, for leaving the scene of a personal injury crash resulting in death, aggravated driving under the influence resulting in death and reckless homicide.
Cucul-Bol was also hit with federal charges in May for falsifying documents, including his passport and Social Security card.
The Abraham family has been vocal about their daughter’s death — and blaming Illinois Democrats for sanctuary policies as they argue the country needs stricter vetting policies. Abraham’s parents have said Cucul-Bol was deported in 2016, but it’s unclear when he returned to the U.S. Federal court documents cite Cucul-Bol as producing false documents with Chase Bank in November 2023.
DHS also released a video featuring Abraham’s parents in which they speak of their daughter’s death and voice support for Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which increases funding for border security.
“Katie was killed by someone who really could have been vetted and not been in this country, and she would be here with us today,” Joe Abraham, Katie’s father, said in the video.
Katie Abraham, a Glenbrook South graduate, was a junior at Ohio University. Both Katie Abraham and Polzin played water polo with the East Side Water Polo Club, a suburban club — and the two competed at travel tournaments and the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics.
“She was one of these unique kids. She had such a unique personality. She was very spirited. She made everyone feel seen,” Joe Abraham said in the DHS video. “She was very engaging. Her sense of humor was incredible. Her wit was so sharp.”
Polzin, a Deerfield High School graduate, was in her third year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where she studied chemistry and played water polo, according to her obituary.
Polzin became a full organ donor after being declared brain dead a day after the crash.
“Out of this tragedy, Chloe has already saved five lives and will impact numerous others through other donations,” her obituary read.
Polzin’s family did not immediately respond to requests for comment about her death being highlighted by the Trump administration.
Contributing: Jon Seidel
