Rose Schmidt is a reporter for NBC Chicago.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle are firing criticisms after a Venezuelan migrant who entered the U.S. illegally allegedly shot and killed a Loyola student last week. Sheridan Gorman was shot and killed on a pier on Lake Michigan last week, and her death has set off a firestorm of controversy.
Republicans, including gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey, have criticized Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for their “sanctuary city” policies, but those Democrats are firing back, arguing that failures at the national level helped lead to the tragedy. “ I agree there have been real failures, those failures of course extend beyond the borders of Illinois. They’re national failures,” Pritzker said. “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.” Bailey argues Pritzker’s embrace of so-called “sanctuary” policies, which prohibit local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement actions, has led to conditions that can lead to safety concerns for Illinois residents. “As Illinois governor, he can be keeping our state safe through the very mechanisms at his fingertips. Letting violent criminals in this state, there is no excuse for that,” he said. Pritzker admits the state has “work to continue to do,” but he says immigration enforcement should remain the purview of the federal government. “It is the job of the federal government to go after immigration enforcement,” he said. Bailey called for the repeal of the TRUST Act, the state’s “sanctuary” law, and for the repeal of the SAFE-T Act, which eliminated cash bail in favor of pretrial detention hearings for defendants. “J.B. Pritzker needs to focus and allow state and local law enforcement to do their job and find these violent criminals and get them out,” he said. While Chicago police data shows homicides are a 60-year low, Bailey and other Republicans have contested those numbers, and state Republicans have criticized Johnson’s decision to fire Garien Gatewood, his deputy mayor for community safety. “Community safety is still my top priority, and my focus is going to be doubling down on the efforts that have proven to be strong strategies,” he said in response to questions about the firing.
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