DHS Honors Angel Families During National Crime Victims Week, Calls Illegal Immigrant Crimes ‘Completely Preventable’
Why It Matters
The Department of Homeland Security is using National Crime Victims Week to shine a spotlight on American families devastated by crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants — and to highlight a key law enforcement office restored under the Trump administration after being shuttered by the Biden administration.
The reopening of the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office marks a significant policy reversal, restoring direct support services to families who say they were ignored for years by politicians and media alike.
What Happened
On Tuesday, DHS formally recognized National Crime Victims Week by honoring so-called “angel families” — those who have lost loved ones to crimes allegedly carried out by illegal aliens. The department highlighted victims from across the country, calling each loss preventable.
DHS acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis issued a statement declaring that “every crime committed by an illegal alien is completely preventable,” and that Secretary Markwayne Mullin is directing the department’s focus toward these victims this week.
The VOICE Office, which was shut down under the Biden administration, was restored by the Trump administration to ensure victims can track immigration enforcement cases, receive automated ICE custody updates, and connect with local social services.
By the Numbers
Since its reopening, the VOICE Office has fielded nearly 900 calls seeking assistance, according to DHS. Of the incidents reported to the office:
32% involved violent assault, 15% involved rape or sexual assault, and 9% involved homicide or manslaughter — a breakdown that underscores the severity of crimes being tracked by the office.
In one case, five-year-old Dalilah Coleman spent three weeks in a coma and required six months of hospital treatment after an illegal immigrant allegedly caused a reckless crash. Now seven years old, she will require lifelong therapy.
Faces Behind the Statistics
DHS highlighted several victims by name this week. Megan Bos, whose body was found in Waukegan, Illinois in April 2025, was allegedly killed by Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Despite facing charges, he was released under Illinois’ sanctuary policies championed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker before being arrested by ICE officers in Chicago in July 2025.
Joshua Wilkerson, 18, was beaten, burned, and left in the woods in Texas in 2010, allegedly killed by a classmate who was an illegal immigrant from Belize. The suspect had been arrested for harassing an ex-girlfriend fewer than five months before the murder.
Katie Abraham, a 20-year-old Ohio University student, was killed on January 19, 2025, in Urbana, Illinois, when a drunk driver later identified as Julio Cucul-Bol rear-ended her vehicle at high speed and fled. Her friend Chloe Polzin also died in the crash. Cucul-Bol was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated DUI resulting in death and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Anya Varfolomeev and Nicholay Osokin, both 19, were struck and killed on the 405 freeway near Los Angeles in November 2021 by an illegal immigrant driving at nearly 100 mph. The suspect had a lengthy criminal history including multiple felonies and had been deported yet re-entered the country illegally twice before the fatal crash.
For more on how communities across the country are grappling with immigration enforcement, including debates over ICE detention facilities, see our ongoing coverage.
Zoom Out
The recognition of angel families fits within a broader enforcement posture adopted by the Trump administration since taking office in January 2025. Federal immigration authorities have ramped up deportations, faced judicial resistance in several circuits, and worked to dismantle sanctuary city policies that critics argue shield criminal illegal aliens from accountability.
States like Illinois and California have faced particular scrutiny from federal officials for releasing individuals with immigration violations before ICE could take custody — a practice DHS has repeatedly condemned as endangering American lives.
What’s Next
DHS is expected to continue its public awareness campaign throughout the remainder of National Crime Victims Week, spotlighting additional families and connecting them with VOICE Office resources. Federal officials have signaled ongoing pressure on sanctuary jurisdictions to cooperate with immigration enforcement authorities.
The VOICE Office will continue fielding calls from victims and families seeking assistance, with DHS emphasizing that supporting Americans harmed by illegal immigrant crime remains a top priority under the current administration.