Secretary of State dismisses calls for clarity on migrant’s license status

By Sean Reed | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The Illinois Secretary of State is pushing back against claims from conservatives that his department has issued drivers licenses to non-citizens using false documents.

In a video this week, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias addressed claims made by U.S. Reps. Mary Miller, R-Ill. And Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, along with former state Rep. Jeanne Ives.

The group’s claims centered on the 2025 death of 20-year-old Katie Abraham and another young woman from a crash with a drunken motorist in Urbana – a Guatemalan man who is alleged to have false documentation and lacked legal status in the country.

Both members of Congress, along with Ives, claimed that Juan Jahaziel Saenz Suarez, using the alias Julio Cucul Bol, was issued a state drivers license under Giannoulias’ watch.

The lies are spreading fast online. The public deserves facts when it comes to safety. pic.twitter.com/XaTEZggvlT— Secretary Alexi Giannoulias (@ILSecOfState) July 14, 2026

The Secretary denied the claims.

“These are boldface lies. This individual was never issued an Illinois driver’s license, period. Using a family’s tragedy to manufacture a false political narrative is deceitful, reprehensible, and does nothing to improve public safety,” Giannoulias said.

He went on to say Illinoisans can respect immigrant communities while the state also holds bad actors to account.

After the secretary’s denial, Ives told The Center Square that she believes Giannoulias wasn’t being truthful, and police report records contain a drivers license number for the foreign national.

“It’s just a sad statement from a public official because if he wants to make this claim that he didn’t issue a driver’s license to an illegal who killed Katie Abraham, then all he has to do is show the documentation. He won’t do it,” Ives said.

Department of Homeland Security officials previously cited Abrams’ death in beginning “Operation Midway Blitz,” an increase in immigration enforcement in the Chicagoland area in 2025.

In early May, Katie Abraham’s father, Joe Abraham, joined state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, when the lawmaker introduced legislation that would have amended state law to allow local and state law enforcement to coordinate with federal immigration enforcement.

The measure didn’t make progress beyond its introduction in Springfield.

In his response to Giannoulias, Joe Abraham echoed similar sentiments to Ives.

.@ILSecOfState @Giannoulias, if you’re so confident your office did nothing wrong, then show Illinois the complete record.Julio Cucul-Bol was issued an Illinois driver’s license under the alias Juan Jahaziel Saenz Suarez, and that Illinois driver’s license number appears in the… https://t.co/dHhywaaYUz pic.twitter.com/jrvXFllylt— Joe Abraham (@angeldadjoe) July 15, 2026

“Instead of transparency, my family has had to work with Judicial Watch to sue Urbana for records so we can understand exactly what happened. The officials you criticize […] have shown my family compassion and have tried to get us answers. You never did,” Abraham said in an online post.

The Secretary of State’s office did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment before this story was published.

A federal grand jury indicted Suarez in May on charges of possessing false identification documents, including a residency card, among others.

The city of Urbana was not able to release police records that would, one way or another, prove the claims against Giannoulias – due to the pending nature of the federal case.

A knowledgeable city official suggested that it wouldn’t be if officers included a falsified drivers license number on reports of the fake documents.

“100% of everything he does is political. It is not for the good , the health and welfare of the residents of the state of Illinois. It’s for his own political future,” Ives said when asked about Giannoulias’ use of an official government channel on social media to publish the video, in which he called her and the members of Congress “MAGA grifters.”

Ives criticised Giannoulias – who is currently running for reelection and is a largely discussed name in conversations about who will run for Chicago Mayor next year – claiming he used the channel in a political manner.

“He thinks attacking Trump, calling people like me ‘MAGA,’ is how he’s going to get elected to this mayor ship and elected mayor sorry in Chicago and just you know why don’t you start doing your first job right the first time and he just hasn’t done that,” Ives said.