Angel Dads face another Father's Day without children killed by illegal immigrants: 'She should be graduating'
FIRST ON FOX: As families across the country celebrate Father's Day, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is honoring a group of fathers bound together by tragedy: fathers whose children were killed or catastrophically injured in crimes tied to illegal aliens and cartel-linked criminals.
DHS shared the stories of three Angel Dads with Fox News Digital: Marcus Coleman, Joe Abraham and Doug Quets, whose lives were forever changed by the deaths of their children and whose losses now serve as a reminder of the lasting impact illegal immigrant crime can have on American families.
"This Father's Day, the United States Department of Homeland Security honors fathers, children and spouses forever changed by violent crimes committed by illegal aliens who should have never been in our country," DHS said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The recognition comes through the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office, known as VOICE, which was relaunched under the Trump administration after being shuttered during the Biden administration. The office provides support, offender custody information, victim services and guidance to families affected by crimes with an immigration nexus.
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The office has fielded nearly 900 calls over the past year, according to DHS and ICE data. Victims and family members accounted for 87% of callers, who collectively reported 815 crimes linked to immigration violations, including homicides, sexual assaults and violent attacks.
As families gather for time with loved ones, fathers like Joe Abraham are instead confronting the painful reality of another Father's Day without their children.
Katie Abraham was just 20 years old when she was killed in a crash caused by an illegal immigrant who was driving drunk, according to her father.
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This year, her family should be celebrating her graduation from college. Instead, they are mourning the future she never had.
"This Father's Day, our family is once again facing the unimaginable reality that Katie is not here," Abraham told Fox News Digital. "We should be celebrating her graduation from Ohio University and looking forward to all the milestones still ahead of her. Instead, we carry the weight of everything that was taken from her, and from us."
Abraham described Katie as "intelligent, thoughtful, fiercely loyal, and full of promise."
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"Her life mattered, and she deserved the chance to live it," he said.
Abraham said he is grateful DHS chose to honor Katie through Operation Midway Blitz and believes efforts to remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens can help prevent similar tragedies from happening to other American families.
"While no operation can undo the loss our family has endured, meaningful action to remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens and prevent future tragedies ensures that Katie's story is not forgotten," he said.
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Hundreds of miles away, Doug Quets is preparing for a Father's Day marked by another painful anniversary.
"This weekend we will commemorate our second Father's Day without our beloved son, Nicholas Douglas Quets, who was ambushed in a horrific failed carjacking by Sinaloa affiliated cartel members on October 18, 2024," Quets said.
Nicholas Quets, a Marine Corps veteran, was 31 years old when he was shot and killed in Mexico while traveling to Rocky Point, according to his father.
Quets says his son's death demonstrates what he believes are the dangers posed by cartel violence and the consequences of failed border security policies.
"The terrorists, emboldened by failed Biden-era U.S. immigration policies which were weaponized against us, pursued Nick in eleven vehicles stolen from U.S. citizens on both sides of the border," Quets said.
"After identifying him as a U.S. citizen, they cowardly shot Nick in the back, through the heart, using weapons smuggled south from the U.S. effectively."
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"Cartels exploited our uncontrolled border and weaponized our unenforced immigration laws against all of us," he said.
"While nothing will bring Nick back, we are exceptionally grateful President Trump signed Executive Order 14157 designating Sinaloa and other Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs)," he said.
DHS is also honoring Marcus Coleman, whose daughter, Dalilah, suffered catastrophic injuries in a crash involving an illegal immigrant that later fueled advocacy efforts surrounding commercial driver's license laws.
Unlike Abraham and Quets, Coleman is not mourning the death of a child. Instead, he has spent years caring for and advocating on behalf of his daughter while pushing for reforms he believes could help prevent similar tragedies.
"Dalilah changed my life forever," Coleman told Fox News Digital. "She taught me that being a father is more than providing—it's protecting, advocating, and refusing to stay silent when change is needed."
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"This Father's Day, I honor and stand with every Angel Father who turns his pain into purpose and his love into action."
Coleman, founder of Stand With Dalilah, has dedicated himself to advocacy efforts in the years since the crash that altered his daughter's life.
The fathers' stories sit at the center of the Trump administration's renewed focus on victims of crimes connected to illegal immigration through the VOICE office.
The agency says the office was created to help victims and surviving family members navigate the aftermath of crimes linked to immigration violations by providing offender custody information, enforcement and removal guidance and referrals to victim-assistance resources.
According to ICE data, callers identified 815 crimes linked to immigration violations over the past year, including violent assaults, sexual assaults, homicides, family violence and stalking cases.
DHS says many surviving victims and family members face emotional, legal and logistical challenges long after a crime occurs and that the VOICE office was designed to help guide them through those challenges.
For fathers like Abraham, Quets and Coleman, however, no government office can restore what was taken from them.
This Father's Day, while families across the country celebrate with their children, Angel Dads are remembering the sons and daughters they lost.