On Wednesday, July 1, 2026, House Representative Tom McClintock (R-California) accused Democrats of prioritizing political power over public safety following a U.S. House hearing that featured families of Americans killed by illegal aliens.
McClintock described his reaction to what he called Democrats’ response in the hearing as “shocked and appalled, but I can’t say particularly surprised.” He pointed to the case of Sheridan Gorman, a college freshman shot to death in Chicago earlier this year.
Jose Medina, a Venezuelan national without legal status in the U.S., is charged with first-degree murder and weapons offenses in connection with Gorman’s killing. He has pleaded not guilty. The Department of Homeland Security asserts that Medina is an illegal alien with a criminal record.
“Rather than turning him over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be deported as the law requires, Chicago sanctuary laws released him back into the community,” McClintock stated. “That’s why he was there and able to murder Sheridan in such a cold-blooded way.”
The lawmaker noted that several “Angel Families” attended the hearing carrying photos of loved ones killed by illegal aliens. “We had probably 10 other Angel Families in the audience, all of them in tears,” McClintock said. “The Democrats, to their faces, said they had better things to do with their time than address the issue.”
McClintock argued Democrats support lax immigration enforcement for political reasons. “We know that Democrats don’t actually care about illegal aliens,” he added. “They want them here because there’s a play to get them voting at some point. Their power is so much more important than any of our lives.”
The congressman also referenced Stephanie Minter, who he said was killed by an illegal alien with prior arrests. “When I asked them how much it would cost to make a simple phone call to ICE and whether Stephanie Minter’s life was worth the cost of that phone call, I got no response,” McClintock said, criticizing officials in Fairfax County, Virginia, for not notifying federal immigration authorities.
Discussing the Department of Justice’s announcement of charges against alleged members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, McClintock stated violent crimes committed by illegal aliens were the result of deliberate policy choices. “This was not by accident. This was not by incompetence,” he said. “This was a deliberate plan by the Democrats to open our borders and then to establish sanctuary laws that shield criminal illegal aliens from deportation.”
McClintock cited ICE statistics, stating: “Last year, these sanctuary jurisdictions refused to honor at least 17,864 ICE detainer requests. Those are all criminal illegal aliens accused of committing other crimes that the Democrats let back into our communities rather than turn them over to ICE for deportation.”
In a warning about future immigration policy, McClintock added: “America needs to wake up pretty fast. If these people ever return to power, we’re going to see these policies resume, and the price we’re paying is already absolutely catastrophic.”
