Mother of Sheridan Gorman testifies before Congress on sanctuary policies after daughter’s murder

Jessica Gorman, whose 18-year-old daughter, Sheridan Grace Gorman, was shot and killed in Chicago in March, delivered emotional testimony June 30 before a House Judiciary subcommittee, urging lawmakers to end sanctuary policies she said enabled her daughter’s death. 

Gorman testified during a hearing titled “Sanctuary Policies: Victims’ Perspectives,” held by the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement. In written testimony, she described Sheridan, a freshman at Loyola University Chicago, as a compassionate and vibrant young woman who “made every room brighter — and, usually, a little louder.”

On March 19, Sheridan was fatally shot in the head while walking with friends along the Chicago lakefront, where they had gone in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights, her mother said. NBC Chicago reported that Sheridan’s friends fled and hid for cover. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Prosecutors charged Jose Medina, a Venezuelan national who entered the U.S. illegally, in her killing. Authorities say Medina had a prior arrest in Chicago and an outstanding warrant before Sheridan’s death. As Zeale News previously reported, he was allegedly apprehended by Border Patrol in May 2023 before being released into the U.S. during the Biden administration under sanctuary policies.

Gorman blamed her daughter’s killing on what she described as failed border enforcement, sanctuary city policies, and local officials’ refusal to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“Even after committing a crime and having an outstanding warrant, he was left on the streets of Chicago to murder my innocent American child,” Gorman said.

She told lawmakers the issue was not abstract or political but personal.

“The question before this Committee is painfully simple: When did protecting our American citizens stop being your first priority? And even more important – WHY did protecting our citizens stop being your first priority?” she asked.

Gorman also recounted Sheridan’s childhood, saying that as a kindergartener, her daughter would watch “the buddy bench” at recess for children who were sitting alone and invite them to play. 

“In what world does the child who spent her life making sure no one was lonely die terrified and alone on a pier in Chicago?” she asked.

Gorman said she supports legal immigration but argued that compassion for those who enter the country illegally must not come before the safety of American citizens. The American government’s first duty, she said, is to American citizens.

“Only after we protect and care for our own people should we focus on bringing others in and even then, it must be done the right way,” Gorman added. 

Gorman outlined a series of policy recommendations she believes can help protect American citizens and ensure no other American families “pay for your contrived compassion with the lives of our children.” 

She called for full enforcement and funding of the Laken Riley Act, which requires the detention of certain illegal immigrants charged with or convicted of theft-related crimes and other serious offenses. She also called for requiring jurisdictions to honor ICE detainers in serious criminal cases, conditioning federal funding on cooperation with immigration enforcement, and increasing transparency around detainer compliance. 

Gorman also backed the Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act of 2026, which would condition certain federal funding on state and local cooperation with immigration enforcement, as well as measures giving victims of sanctuary policies civil remedies.

Gorman asked lawmakers to examine the specific failures in Sheridan’s case, including Medina’s entry into the country and his release after a shoplifting arrest. 

“This should not be controversial,” she said. “A nation has borders. A government has laws. And elected officials have a duty. Their first duty is to protect the people they serve.”

Gorman closed by asking lawmakers to “choose the people you were elected to protect,” “choose the child on the buddy bench,” and “choose Sheridan.”

“No mother should have to stand where I am standing, begging elected leaders to value her child’s life after it is already too late,” she concluded. “I thank you from the bottom of my broken heart.”

>> Grieving families testify about toll of sanctuary policies at House hearing <<