EXCLUSIVE: Angel dad finds ‘new purpose’ with ICE after daughter’s killing turned his world upside down

EXCLUSIVE: A grieving angel dad whose daughter was killed by an illegal alien told Fox News Digital how the tragedy reshaped his life and what he hopes to accomplish leading ICE’s office for victims of illegal alien crime.

"I was living a comfortable, simple life, looking forward to, like, retiring and just watching my kids, and my whole world is upside down," Joe Abraham said Friday, his first day leading ICE's Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement (VOICE) office.

"My life as I know it is not there anymore." In January 2025, Abraham's daughter, Katie, was killed by an illegal alien who was driving drunk in their home state of Illinois.

The perpetrator, Guatemalan national Julio Cucul-Bol, who was using an assumed Mexican identity and who did not speak English, was captured in Texas days after the crash as he tried to flee to Mexico .

ANGEL DAD TAKES MAJOR NEW ROLE AFTER DAUGHTER’S KILLING SPARKS SWEEPING ILLEGAL ALIEN CRACKDOWN He was charged with multiple offenses and later pleaded guilty to charges that included aggravated driving under the influence resulting in death and leaving the scene of a fatal crash.

He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

"So, I am in a wilderness, and I'm wandering.

I'm trying to find my new purpose without Katie," said Abraham.

"I wasn't supposed to.

I need Katie.

I still need Katie, but I'm trying to find a way through this life without her now.

I want her to be proud.

I want her name to mean something." HUNDREDS OF JAILED ILLEGAL ALIENS RELEASED BACK ONTO BLUE-STATE STREETS DESPITE ICE DETAINERS, RECORDS SHOW Katie Abraham's story inspired ICE's Operation Midway Blitz , a sweeping federal immigration enforcement action that netted the arrests of more than 4,000 illegal aliens in the Chicago area late last year.

Abraham said it wasn't easy to walk away from the life he's known, which he described as "cushy." He's a lifelong Illinoisan who was forced to confront an unimaginable reality, and found it impossible to get support from state officials.