ICE Launches 'Operation Midway Blitz' In Honor Of Illinois Woman Killed In Hit-And-Run

GLENVIEW, IL — The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday it is launching "Operation Midway Blitz," aimed at targeting what the agency is calling "criminal illegal aliens" in Chicago and the rest of the state. Officials said the operation is in honor of Katie Abraham, a 20-year-old Glenview resident killed by a drunken hit-and-run driver in January.

Abraham, a graduate of Glenbrook South, and Chloe Polzin, 21, a Deerfield High School graduate, died Jan. 19 while visiting friends downstate. The two college students were struck from behind by the speeding driver of a Mitsubishi SUV while at a red light shortly before 2 a.m. at University and Coler avenues in Urbana, police said. Three other people in the car were injured, police said at the time.

As Patch reported in January, the driver of the Mitsubishi, Julio Cucul Bol, 29, fled on foot, but was eventually captured by the U.S. Marshals Service in Milford, Texas, riding a bus bound for Matamoros, Mexico, police said. According to officials, he had falsified Mexican paperwork and was using an alias, but later admitted to being a citizen of Guatemala.

RELATED: Suburban Students Killed In Crash While Visiting Friends Downstate

"This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets," DHS said in a Monday social media post on X. "President Trump and Secretary Noem stand with the victims of illegal alien crime while Governor Pritzker stands with criminal illegal aliens."

"DHS had mentioned that they’d like to do this in Katie’s honor, which I thought was very nice of them to think about Katie," Abraham's father told WGN this week. "No one here in Illinois thought about Katie. … It’s unfortunate that has to be political, because I don’t know where the controversy here is. You have criminal illegal aliens. People have done everything improperly, and these are the folks we’re standing behind while good kids like Katie are sacrificed."

Last week, officials with Lake County and the village of North Chicago acknowledged that "unprecedented" reports of federal agents coming to the Great Lakes Naval Base in North Chicago has been causing concerns for many. Meanwhile, Gov. JB Pritzker said Friday that federal agents are expected to be "fully assembled" in the Chicago area.

RELATED: 'Unsettling,' 'Unprecedented' Presence Of ICE Agents At Suburban Naval Base Sparks Fears

'Operation Midway Blitz' Prompts Confusion As Chicago Braces For Federal Intervention