The mother of an 18-year-old murdered in Chicago stood in Washington Thursday and named the Democratic lawmakers who couldn't be bothered to listen: Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who told grieving families to their faces that the hearing wasn't worth her time, and Rep. Jerry Nadler, who she says was asleep at the dais. For ordinary Americans, the message from the political class is unmistakable — your pain is an inconvenience to their agenda.
Jessica Anne Gorman's daughter Sheridan was shot and killed near a Chicago pier in March 2026. Jose Medina, a Venezuelan national who entered the country illegally and was released by Chicago authorities after a shoplifting arrest, has been charged with the murder. Gorman testified at a House hearing on sanctuary policies — the very policies that put her daughter's accused killer back on the street. What she got from the other side of the dais was disdain.
Gorman recalled hearing laughter as she spoke about her dead child. Then Jayapal, a Washington Democrat and longtime sanctuary policy defender, made clear that listening to victims was a chore. According to the New York Post, Jayapal remarked that it was the fourth such hearing and that there were
