EXCLUSIVE: DHS honors angel families during National Crime Victims Week, calls crimes 'completely preventable'
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday recognized National Crime Victims Week by shining a light on those impacted by crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants and resources available to angel families.
After being shut down by the Biden administration, the Trump administration re-opened the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office to prioritize American victims and their families.
Over the past year, the office has fielded nearly 900 calls seeking assistance, according to DHS.
The office restores critical support services, such as helping victims track immigration enforcement cases, providing automated ICE custody updates, and connecting families with local social services.
Of the incidents reported, DHS said 32% involved violent assault, 15% involved rape or sexual assault and 9% involved homicide or manslaughter.
"For too long in this country, victims of illegal alien crime have been ignored by the media and sanctuary politicians," DHS acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital. "This National Crime Victims Week, Secretary Markwayne Mullin is honoring the victims of illegal alien crime."
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"DHS will never stop fighting for victims of illegal aliens and will ALWAYS put America first," she added. "Every crime committed by an illegal alien is completely preventable."
Some of the victims of crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants, who DHS is remembering this week, include:
In April 2025, Megan Bos’ body was found partially decomposed in a garbage can in Waukegan, Illinois.
Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, is charged with abuse of a corpse, two counts of concealing the death of a person and obstructing justice in connection with her death.
Despite the charges, DHS said he was released under sanctuary Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. On July 19, 2025, he was arrested by ICE officers in Chicago.
Joshua Wilkerson, 18, was killed by his classmate Hermilo Moralez, an illegal immigrant from Belize, on Nov. 16, 2010, according to DHS.
After his disappearance, Wilkerson’s body was found dumped in the woods, severely beaten and burned.
Less than five months before killing Wilkerson, DHS said Moralez was arrested for harassing his ex-girlfriend.
Dalilah Coleman was seriously injured after illegal immigrant Partap Singh allegedly caused a car crash while driving recklessly behind the wheel of a semi-truck.
The 5-year-old was in a coma for three weeks and required six months of hospital treatment, according to DHS. Now 7 years old, she will need life-long therapy.
Singh first entered the U.S. illegally in 2022, but was released by the Biden administration, officials said. Despite his immigration history, he was also granted a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) in California.
Katie Abraham, a 20-year-old Ohio University student, was killed on Jan. 19, 2025, in a car crash in Urbana, Illinois.
A drunk driver, later identified as Julio Cucul-Bol, rear-ended the vehicle she was riding in at high speed and then fled the scene. Abraham's friend Chloe Polzin was also killed in the crash.
Cucul-Bol pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including aggravated Driving Under Intoxication (DUI) resulting in death and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, according to DHS.
Anya Varfolomeev and Nicholay Osokin, both 19 years old, were hit and killed on Nov. 19, 2021, by an illegal immigrant, Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano, while he was driving impaired and speeding at nearly 100 mph on the 405 freeway near Los Angeles.
Ortega-Anguiano, has a lengthy track record that includes multiple felonies and convictions for driving without a license, according to DHS. Despite being deported, he re-entered the country illegally twice.
He was sentenced to serve two 10-year sentences, to be served concurrently. However, local outlet KABC reported last year he was set to be released from the blue state after serving only three-and-a-half years.
On Aug. 24, 2003, Lacy Marie Ferguson and her boyfriend were caught in the crossfire of a shootout between multiple illegal immigrants, according to DHS.
Ferguson was killed and her boyfriend, along with a third person, were wounded, officials said. She left behind her 3-year-old daughter.
In 2016, the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office announced the arrest of David Aguilar, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, for Lacy’s murder, according to DHS. He was convicted the following year.
Chrishia Odette was killed by an unlicensed illegal immigrant on Sept. 12, 2014, after being hit by a car while crossing the street on the way to a slumber party at a friend’s house, according to DHS.
The driver of the car, Ramiro Guevara, was an illegal immigrant from Mexico who spent less than 35 minutes behind bars before posting a cash bond, officials said.
Guevara had been encountered twice before in 1994 and 2004 by Customs and Border Protection, before being returned to Mexico both times.
On Dec. 17, 2018, Rocky Paul Jones, 51, of Visalia, California, was shot and killed at a gas station during a 24-hour shooting and crime spree perpetuated by Gustavo Garcia, an illegal immigrant, DHS said.
In addition to killing Jones, DHS said Garcia shot a farm worker in the chest while he was on a ladder picking fruit, followed a woman to her car and attempted to shoot and kill her, fired multiple gunshots at his ex-girlfriend’s home and robbed a gas station.
Garcia was previously deported from the U.S. in 2014 by ICE after being charged with crimes including illegal possession of a firearm, according to DHS.
Hailey King, 18, was hit and killed on Nov. 7, 2016, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, by illegal immigrant Sergio Rodriguez.
Instead of stopping to help, he fled the scene, according to DHS. She left behind a 2-year-old daughter.
Rodriguez also struck Osmin Gutierrez, rendering him a double amputee. Gutierrez died from his injuries in 2021 at 25 years old.
Officials said Rodriguez pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and has twice been denied parole, with the most recent denial being in 2022.
Lizbeth Medina, a 16-year-old cheerleader at Edna High School in Texas, was found dead in a bathtub by her mother at their family home on Dec. 5, 2023, after she was stabbed to death by Rafael Govea Romero, an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
Romero, who had been placed on an ICE detainer because of an expired visa, pleaded guilty to the killing and received two concurrent life sentences, according to DHS and local reports.
Of the total number of illegal immigrants arrested by ICE, DHS claims nearly 70% have committed a crime or been charged with a crime in the U.S.
DHS said it is "protecting American communities every day from another senseless tragedy like these taking place in another town, to another family."
Victims of illegal immigrant crime can receive support from the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office by contacting 855-488-6423.