Teen's tragic killing by illegal immigrant becomes flashpoint in battle for control of Congress

A Chicago killing has moved into the center of a hard-fought House race in suburban New York. Eighteen-year-old Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman was shot dead in March while out late with friends near campus. The Department of Homeland Security says the suspect, Jose Medina, is a Venezuelan who entered the country unlawfully in May 2023 and was freed under the previous administration. DHS adds that he was picked up for shoplifting the following month and let go again, in a city and state that bar police from working with immigration agents, according to Fox News.

Gorman's parents confronted the two candidates in New York's 17th Congressional District at a debate this week, asking Democrat Cait Conley and Republican Rep. Mike Lawler whether they would back repealing the state law that keeps local police from cooperating with ICE. Lawler, seeking a third term in a difficult contest, told Fox News Digital that ICE needs reforms such as body cameras, uniforms and no masks, but that New York should help deport criminal immigrants. He warned that Democratic control of Congress would bring a return to lax enforcement and cuts to ICE resources. His seat may help decide which party holds the House.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →