Katie Abraham should have graduated from Ohio University this year.
Instead, she is buried.
She was visiting friends in Urbana, Illinois, when she was killed by a man who, according to public records, possessed valid Illinois-issued documents despite allegedly using false identities and aliases and despite documented concerns that should have prompted greater scrutiny.
Her death is not the subject of this article.
It is the reason this article must be written.
Katie's case raises a larger question: who will be held accountable for the policies that created the conditions for failures like these?
The Biden administration never officially adopted an "open borders" policy.
They didn't have to.
People respond to incentives.
Between 2021 and 2025, President Joe Biden and his administration pursued an immigration agenda that dismantled deterrence-based policies, narrowed enforcement priorities, expanded the use of parole authorities, and attempted to end programs designed to discourage unlawful entry.
President Biden set that agenda.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas implemented it through the agencies responsible for border security and immigration enforcement.
Senior White House officials, including Domestic Policy Council directors Susan Rice and later Neera Tanden, helped shape and coordinate immigration policy across the administration.
Chiefs of Staff Ron Klain and Jeff Zients oversaw the implementation of the administration's priorities across federal agencies.
These officials held different roles, but together they designed, coordinated, executed, and defended policies that critics warned would weaken deterrence, overwhelm existing systems, and create the widespread perception that migrants who reached the United States would likely be allowed to remain.
Those warnings were dismissed.
The result was predictable: record border encounters, overwhelmed processing facilities, massive asylum backlogs, strained public resources, and an immigration system increasingly unable to distinguish between those who qualified for protection and those who did not.
States like Illinois reinforced those federal policies.
Governor JB Pritzker championed sanctuary policies and repeatedly promoted Illinois as a welcoming state. Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias bears responsibility for ensuring the integrity of Illinois' credentialing systems. Attorney General Kwame Raoul has defended the legal framework underpinning the state's sanctuary policies.
Washington created the incentives. States like Illinois amplified them.
Together, federal and state leaders created a policy environment in which enforcement weakened, accountability diminished, and foreseeable risks multiplied.
Too often, Americans who raised concerns about border security and public safety were dismissed as lacking compassion.
Politicians, activists, and sympathetic media voices frequently portrayed stronger enforcement measures as inherently cruel while paying far less attention to the human costs of weak enforcement.
Compassion became a shield against accountability.
But compassion without responsibility is not compassion at all.
A nation can be welcoming without surrendering control of its borders. States can support migrants without abandoning their obligation to verify identities, maintain secure credentialing systems, provide appropriate care, and protect the public.
Cases like Katie's raise difficult questions.
How did someone allegedly using multiple identities obtain valid state-issued credentials?
What verification processes failed?
Were audits conducted?
Were warning signs missed?
If this happened once, how many other cases have gone undetected?
Perhaps the most troubling question is not whether these systems failed.
They clearly did.
The question is why.
Were policymakers warned about the risks? Did they ignore those warnings? Did political priorities outweigh public safety concerns?
The American people deserve answers.
Congress should conduct a comprehensive review of the immigration decisions made between 2021 and 2025. Illinois officials should conduct a comprehensive review of credentialing systems, identity verification procedures, audit processes, and coordination with federal authorities.
If audits were conducted, the public should know the results.
If audits were not conducted, the public deserves to know why.
The architects of these policies made their choices. Their allies defended them. The American people live with the consequences.
And families like mine bear the cost.
The burden should not be on grieving families to demand accountability.
It should be the government officials ' responsibility to provide it.
