(The Center Square) – After the alleged murder of a Loyola University student by a migrant who was in the country illegally, Gov. J.B. Pritzker says the policy failures extend to President Donald Trump.
A Venezuelan national was charged with killing Sheridan Gorman, 18, of Yorktown Heights, New York, in Chicago last Thursday.
When told that Gorman’s parents pointed to government policies that led to their daughter’s murder, Pritzker said the policy failures extend beyond Illinois.
“There are national failures, a failure to have comprehensive immigration reform, a failure of the president to follow his own edict to go after the worst of the worst,” Pritzker said.
At the Illinois Capitol on Tuesday, State Rep. John Cabello said Gorman was killed on Chicago’s lakefront, a place Pritzker claimed was safe.
“So the question before us is simple. Have you had enough yet? Have you had enough of the deadly consequences of Gov. Pritzker’s failed policies?” Cabello asked.
Cabello referred to former Chicago Deputy Mayor Garien Gatewood suggesting that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration was anti-police after Johnson fired Gatewood last week.
The mayor refused to say how his philosophy differed from Gatewood’s when he was repeatedly asked about the former deputy mayor during a press briefing at City Hall on Tuesday morning.
Johnson expressed sympathy for Gorman’s family and said disturbing acts of violence set the city back.
“We will not tolerate those who break the law and put the lives of others in danger,” Johnson said.
State Rep. Patrick Sheehan, who is also a police officer, said Pritzker called federal law enforcement the Gestapo and Johnson called law enforcement a sickness.
“How will we ever have safe communities in Illinois when the people at the top are undermining law enforcement at every single turn?” Sheehan asked.
State Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, said Illinois Republicans have introduced legislation to restore public safety.
“Repealing the TRUST Act would allow state and local law enforcement officials and officers to communicate with federal officers to ensure that criminal illegal aliens face deportation proceedings when they are released from jail,” Windhorst said.
Windhorst also outlined proposals to expand the detention net for pretrial release and giving judges discretion when individuals are deemed dangerous.
After a video circulated on social media of Chicago Alderman Maria Hadden suggesting that the man accused of killing Gorman might have startled the victim, Chicago Flips Red leaders protested outside of Hadden’s office on Tuesday.
“Would you say that your wife startled the illegal alien, that’s why she was shot in the back trying to run away? Would you justify your wife being killed by an illegal alien?” Chicago Flips Red Danielle Carter-Walters asked.
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