Press Releases

WASHINGTON — This morning, at the weekly House GOP Leadership press conference, Speaker Johnson highlighted the tragic murder of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman at the hands of a criminal illegal alien in Chicago who was detained and released back into the public by the Biden Administration. Speaker Johnson also addressed Democrats refusing to reopen the Department of Homeland Security despite record-long airport wait times, TSA agents working without pay, and increased threats to our homeland, in their effort to reopen the southern border and protect criminal illegal aliens like Sheridan Gorman’s killer.

“You don't have to take our word for it. Look at [Democrats] actions and you're going to see it yet again. It's with their word, their actions, their legislation, they tell you what they prioritize, and it is the welfare of criminal illegal aliens over American citizens,” Speaker Johnson said.

Watch Speaker Johnson’s full remarks here.

On the tragic murder of Sheridan Gorman:

Sheridan Gorman was beautiful 18-year-old. A freshman, as has been noted, at Loyola University, enjoying time with her friends out on the pier looking at the Northern Lights. And now her family is mourning her tragic and totally unnecessary loss. It was a life tragically cut short. The masked assailant approached Sheridan while she was walking with her friends, she ran away and as you know, shot her from the back. The monster who did this, Jose Medina-Medina, was an illegal alien with a criminal record. Why is that so relevant to us? Because it's Democrat policies that made this tragedy possible. He had no legal right to be in this country. And we know that Medina entered the United States illegally on May 9th, 2023, under the Biden Administration with a wide-open border policy. We also know he was caught by border patrol and released into the country, like millions of others. And thanks to the Democrats’ open border policy. Those are indisputable facts. Medina was arrested in a major American city, again only to be released on the streets of Chicago. Why? Because of crazy Democrat policies. He would later take the life of Sheridan Gorman.

The irony of all this is that the system did not fail Sheridan. That worked exactly as the Democrats intended. You had Democrats in charge of the White House and in charge in the city of Chicago. Open borders policies, sanctuary cities policies. They coddled criminal illegal aliens, they empowered and they allowed this to happen. And that's why we're so angry about it. He was in the custody of law enforcement twice and there were two chances to stop him. But Democrats’ open borders guaranteed the release and their soft-on-crime, sanctuary policies ensured his impunity. And that's why this happened. Sheridan Gorman should still be with us and her entire life still ahead of her. But it's the same fate that befell Laken Riley too, and so many others. How many more times this story have to be repeated? Everybody needs to be asking that question.

On the Democrat DHS shutdown:

We're 40 days into this shutdown. It's the second-longest in history. It's partial, but it's a big one. Because they shut down the third-largest department of the federal government, it has 10 agencies underneath it, 260,000+ employees. And each of those agencies have one common denominator, as the name implies. They're to keep the homeland secure. This is not a game, but Democrats have shut down the exact law enforcement agencies that are responsible for apprehending criminal illegal aliens just like this criminal here who killed Sheridan Gorman. Congressional Democrats have held our airports, TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, so many critical functions of our government, we're talking about anti-bioterrorism matters and issues. You're talking about cybersecurity, all these things. They’re holding the government hostage, and why? What is their demand? At the root of all, they want to reopen the border, and they want to protect criminal illegal aliens just like this murderer here. That is the modern Democratic Party, and they verify it of course with their actions. These aren't political talking points. These are the facts.

On Democrats fighting to reopen American borders and protect criminal illegal aliens:

Democrats in the House are demanding a DHS bill that would eliminate funding for the exact agencies that are tasked with preventing a tragedy like this. Just last week, 190 Democrats voted against two bills. What were those bills? Common sense. Expedite the deportation of illegal aliens who abuse service animals. They voted no. And those who commit fraud in our country, they voted no. You don't have to take our word for it. Look at their actions and you're going to see it yet again. It's with their word, their actions, their legislation. They tell you what they prioritize. And it is the welfare of criminal illegal aliens over American citizens. We ought to believe what they say, the words in action.

Sadly, there will be no Democrats marching in the streets for Sheridan Gorman. They won't even talk about her. I promise you, they won't even bring it up. No one holding signs demanding justice for her killer. It's among the most shameful episodes we have ever seen. They cannot even bring themselves to say that this shouldn't happen. We hope that someday Democrats finally come to their senses again and put the safety of American citizens first, but we're not holding our breath. Until then, here's what Republicans are going to do, we're going to pray obviously for Sheridan's family and every American citizen victimized for these senseless, avoidable crimes. We will continue to fight for the rule of law and call out the madness when we see it. And here's what we will not do. We'll not allow Democrats to hold our airports and our country hostage so they can reimplement their catastrophic deadly open borders policies and threaten the lives of our children. This is common sense versus crazy.