Editorial illustration
In a display of political gymnastics that would make Cirque du Soleil jealous, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson are now blaming President Trump for the murder of 18-year-old Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman—allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant who was released back onto the streets after being arrested for shoplifting in 2023, according to Chicago police reports. The audacity is breathtaking, even by Chicago Democrat standards.
"It is the job of the federal government to go after immigration enforcement," Pritzker told media outlets on Tuesday, but he’s conveniently ignoring that his own party has spent the last four years blocking funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement while upholding Chicago’s status as a "welcoming city" sanctuary for illegal migrants, as detailed in city council records. The mental contortions required to blame Trump for a murder committed by someone who was released under the Biden administration’s catch-and-release policies—while simultaneously defending those very policies—would be impressive if they weren’t so transparently cynical.
Mayor Johnson’s contribution to this blame-shifting spectacle was equally absurd. "If there is anything to address in this country that’s illegal, it’s everything about the Trump administration," he claimed during a press conference, as if the administration that just received a mandate to clean up the border crisis is somehow responsible for the sanctuary policies Johnson himself enforces, per official statements from his office. The suspect, Jose Medina-Medina, is a Venezuelan national who benefited from the very amnesty-zone policies that Johnson and Pritzker have championed, based on immigration court documents. But sure, let’s blame the guy trying to fix the problem.
The victim here, Sheridan Gorman, deserves better than to become a political football in a game of partisan dodgeball. She was walking along the Chicago lakeshore, living her life as a college student, when she encountered a predator who should never have been in this country in the first place. The question that Pritzker and Johnson desperately want you to avoid is simple: if Chicago had cooperated with federal immigration enforcement, would Sheridan Gorman still be alive today?
Chicago’s "Welcoming City" ordinance—passed four decades ago, as Johnson is quick to point out—has been zealously defended and expanded by the current Democratic leadership, according to state legislative reviews. The state-wide amnesty-zone act was indeed passed under Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, but it has been enthusiastically enforced and protected by Pritzker and his allies, as noted in recent policy analyses. Pointing to the date on the law is a coward’s way of avoiding responsibility for how that law is applied today.
The broader pattern here is unmistakable. Democrats create sanctuary policies that shield criminal illegal aliens from deportation; when those policies predictably result in American citizens being victimized, they pivot immediately to blaming Republicans, a tactic seen in multiple reports from conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation. It’s a political strategy that requires either complete contempt for the intelligence of voters or a pathological inability to accept responsibility—possibly both. Trump was elected specifically to end this madness, and no amount of rhetorical misdirection from Pritzker or Johnson changes the fact that their policies put Sheridan Gorman in harm’s way.
Providence watches over the bold.
About The Author
