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“… Denise Lorence wrote in an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune this week that her late daughter, Katie Abraham, “would not have wanted to be associated with a campaign that targets Chicago — a city she not only loved but felt safe in.”
In September, the Department of Homeland Security launched “Operation Midway Blitz,” a large-scale immigration enforcement operation, in honor of Abraham. She and a friend were killed when an undocumented immigrant, who was driving drunk, crashed into her vehicle in Urbana, Illinois, on Jan. 19. Local police have said the man charged in the case, Julio Cucul Bol, of Guatemala, had attempted to flee the country on a bus headed to Mexico before the U.S. Marshals Service apprehended him.
… Joe Abraham, Katie’s father, who is in another marriage, has said he supports the Trump administration’s operation and gave his permission to the Trump administration to honor his daughter. In a statement provided by DHS, he faulted sanctuary city policies, which prevent local law enforcement officials from cooperating with civil immigration enforcement, for helping contribute to his daughter’s death.
… But in her op-ed, Lorence wrote: “Katie would not have wanted this. … Katie would not want to be associated with an operation in which kids witness their parents being taken into custody on their way to or from school. She wouldn’t support scaring kids with the use of military efforts in their neighborhoods or in their apartment buildings.”
… In her op-ed, Lorence acknowledged Joe Abraham’s support for the operation and said she would “never fault or question someone in the way they grieve.”
But she also said she was struggling with her own grief and wanted to reclaim her daughter’s legacy.
… “I taught Katie to advocate for herself, and as heartbreaking as it is, Katie is no longer here to advocate for herself because of a crime that took place 150 miles from Chicago. She cannot advocate for herself and stand up to say ‘I am not a political pawn.’”…”