‘It’s not for her’: DHS dedicated Midway Blitz in her name. Her mother says she would have hated it
The Trump administration dedicated its Operation Midway Blitz immigration enforcement campaign to 20-year-old Glenbrook South High School graduate Katie Abraham, who was killed last year in a drunken-driving accident in Urbana involving a Guatemalan man residing in the U.S. without legal status.
But her mother said the administration never sought her permission to use her daughter’s name in furtherance of its political agenda, an association she says her daughter would not want.
Denise Lorence, Abraham’s mother, testified Monday during one of the final two hearings of the Illinois Accountability Commission, a body created by Gov. JB Pritzker last fall to document misconduct of federal immigration agents.
“Katie would have hated it, and she would have hated having her name continuing to be used by politicians, publicly and on social media,” Lorence told commissioners. “The Trump administration preyed on her name and used it in a vile way.”
Abraham’s father, Joe Abraham, has been supportive of President Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign, appearing beside the president as he promoted his domestic agenda in the White House last June.
He and his current wife were featured in a video released by the Department of Homeland Security, voicing support for increased border security funding. Abraham also penned an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune, criticizing Illinois lawmakers for undermining federal immigration policy.
“If even just one life is saved because of her story, then I know my Katie would be proud that I spoke up,” Abraham wrote. “As parents, we all process grief in different ways. The best way I know to honor my daughter is to help prevent other families from living this nightmare.”
The immigration enforcement campaign conducted last fall detained roughly 3,800 people and deported nearly 2,500, the majority of whom had no criminal record, according to an analysis by the Chicago Tribune.
It’s not how her daughter would want to be remembered, Lorence said, arguing that DHS should have consulted both parents.
“It’s not for her,” Lorence said. “Having my daughter’s legacy associated with this violent government operation and their political agenda, instead of the light and positivity that she contributed to this world is inexcusable, and she would want nothing to do with it.”
DHS did not respond to a request for comment regarding the use of Abraham’s name in connection with Operation Midway Blitz.
Sixteen investigations
The testimony from Abraham’s mother was featured in the second-to-last hearing to be held by the commission before it submits a final report with its recommendations to Pritzker on Thursday.
Since the commission was formed last October, it has conducted 16 in-depth investigations in Chicago based on interviews with over 60 eyewitnesses, nearly 100 hours of federal agent body camera footage and hundreds of hours of footage from surveillance cameras, personal devices and social media.
It also conducted seven commissioner-led private group listening sessions in different neighborhoods, according to a news release.
The investigations examined the fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas Gonzales, a Mexican father of two fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a September traffic stop in Franklin Park, and the shooting of Marimar Martinez, a teacher’s aide who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in October.
Martinez is expected to testify tomorrow with her lawyer, as is former Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin.