Fetterman slams fellow Democrats for policies that led to latest killing by illegal immigrant

U.S. Senator John Fetterman.

U.S. Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is questioning his fellow Democrats on policies that led to an illegal immigrant allegedly murdering a college freshman in Chicago last week, and their reaction to the latest tragedy. 

Appearing on Fox News Monday, Fetterman addressed the brutal killing of Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old college freshman who was fatally shot in the head on the streets of Chicago last Thursday while out with friends trying to view the Northern Lights. An illegal immigrant has been arrested and charged with murder in Sheridan's killing and the Department of Homeland Security said the suspect was caught illegally entering the U.S. in 2023, and then released into the U.S. in accordance with then-President Biden's border policies at the time. 

"Why can't we acknowledge that this [Democrats' open border policy] is a serious, serious failure? Fetterman wondered in an interview with Bill Hemmer of Fox News. "It's devastating as a father." 

Fetterman went on to point out that the killing of Gorman was preventable -- and that most Democrats declined to vote in favor of the Laken Riley Act, which President Trump signed into law in January 2025. The Laken Riley Act, named for a college student murdered by an illegal immigrant, federally mandates that illegal immigrants must be detained if they are accused of crimes such as theft, burglary or assault. Jose Medina-Medina, the 25-year-old illegal immigrant who investigators say fatally shot Gorman was arrested for shoplifting in Chicago in 2023, but was never turned over to federal authorities under the city's and state's sanctuary policies. 

"Only seven or eight Democrats voted for the Laken Riley Act. Why can't you agree?" Fetterman wondered about the vast majority of elected Democrat officials who support open border policies. "Deport them," he added. "I just don't understand! It's a tragedy what happened to that young woman, it will continue to happen. Why is this unreasonable to anybody?"

Meanwhile, outrage is mounting from Gorman's family and politicians who have been warning of the threat of violent crime by illegal immigrants, as well as those who blame Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker's sanctuary policies for the tragedy. Pritzker raised eyebrows by taking four days to even acknowledge Gorman's killing, and then was criticized for omitting the fact that an illegal immigrant has been arrested and charged with her murder once he finally made a post about it on social media Monday. Below, watch more of Fetterman's remarks.