The Death of Sheridan Gorman and the Cost of Illinois' Sanctuary State
By Michael "Mickey" Scornavacco | MickeyX3.com
Her name was Sheridan Gorman.
She was 18 years old.
Let that sit for a second.
Eighteen.
Just getting started. Just stepping into life. A freshman at Loyola University Chicago, studying business, building a future that was wide open in front of her.
She wasn't a statistic.
She wasn't a headline.
She was someone's daughter.
And she is dead because the State of Illinois — under the leadership of Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois Democrats — decided that protecting illegal immigrants was more important than protecting its own citizens.
Who She Was
Sheridan wasn't just another college student.
Her family described her as kind, funny, and full of life. The type of person who made others feel important. The kind of young woman people gravitated toward because she made the world around her better.
The kind of kid every parent hopes to raise.
The kind of kid every parent believes will outlive them.
Her Parents' Nightmare
Her parents, Tom and Jessica Gorman, are now living something no parent should ever have to endure.
There are no words for it.
You raise a child. You protect them. You guide them. You watch them grow into who they're becoming.
And then one day… they're just gone.
Not from sickness. Not from something you can prepare for.
Gone in an instant.
The Night Everything Changed
Sheridan was doing what any 18-year-old does.
She was out with friends.
They went to the lakefront to look at the northern lights. Think about that. A group of kids standing by the water, looking up at the sky, just trying to experience something beautiful.
And in a moment, everything was taken from her.
Gunfire.
Chaos.
Sheridan was shot in the head.
And just like that… her life was over.
What Was Stolen
Not just her life.
Everything.
The career she was working toward.
The family she might have had.
The birthdays. The holidays. The future her parents dreamed of.
Gone.
There is now an empty chair at her family's table that will never be filled again.
That is what this means.
The Sanctuary State That Made This Possible
Let's talk about how we got here.
JB Pritzker and Illinois Democrats built this. Brick by brick. Law by law. Executive order by executive order.
They turned Illinois into a sanctuary state — a place where illegal immigrants are shielded from federal law enforcement, where local police are forbidden from cooperating with ICE, and where people who should have been detained and deported are instead released back into our communities.
The Illinois TRUST Act and the Illinois Way Forward Act were designed to do one thing: protect illegal immigrants from deportation. Not protect citizens. Not protect families. Not protect 18-year-old girls looking at the northern lights.
Protect the people who shouldn't be here in the first place.
Pritzker signed these laws. Illinois Democrats cheered. And the consequences? Those get paid by people like Sheridan Gorman and her family.
Catch and Release: The Illinois Way
This is the system Illinois Democrats built:
- An illegal immigrant gets arrested.
- Local law enforcement is prohibited from honoring ICE detainers.
- The individual is released back onto the streets.
- They reoffend.
- Someone else pays the price.
This isn't hypothetical. This is happening right now, across Illinois, in Chicago, in the suburbs, in communities just like yours.
Dangerous individuals who should have been deported are walking free because JB Pritzker and his Democrat allies in Springfield decided that virtue signaling matters more than public safety.
They made a choice. And Sheridan Gorman paid for it.
This Hits Close to Home
And for those of us here in Antioch, this isn't some distant tragedy we watch on the news.
We've already lived it.
We lost Megan Bos.
I've gotten to know her mother since then, and I've seen firsthand what something like this does to a family. The grief doesn't fade. The pain doesn't go away. It just becomes something they carry every single day for the rest of their lives.
No family should have to live like that.
Not one.
But as long as JB Pritzker's sanctuary state stands, more families will.
The Blood Is on Their Hands
Let me be clear about something.
The person who pulled the trigger is responsible for Sheridan's death.
But the system that allowed it to happen — the sanctuary laws, the catch-and-release policies, the refusal to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement — that system was built by JB Pritzker and Illinois Democrats.
They don't get to wash their hands of this.
They don't get to send "thoughts and prayers" and move on.
They created the conditions. They passed the laws. They blocked enforcement.
They own this.
Enough Is Enough
I'm a Republican Committeeman in Antioch, Illinois.
But more importantly, I'm a father with kids her age.
And that's what makes this impossible to ignore.
Because when I read this story, I don't just see Sheridan.
I see my own kids.
I see your kids.
And I see a political machine — led by Pritzker and funded by Democrat special interests — that keeps choosing illegal immigrants over American citizens.
There is no excuse for this.
None.
She Should Still Be Here
That's the part no one can get around.
Sheridan Gorman should still be here.
Living her life. Going to class. Laughing with her friends. Calling her parents.
Instead, her name is now something we say in past tense — because JB Pritzker's Illinois decided protecting illegal immigrants was more important than protecting her.
And that should shake every single one of us.
What Are We Going To Do About It?
How many times do we read stories like this before we say enough?
How many families have to be destroyed before someone is held accountable?
How many more kids have to die before Illinois repeals its sanctuary state laws?
Because if we do nothing…
If we let Pritzker and the Democrats keep running this state into the ground…
This happens again.
And again.
And again.
Sign the petition to impeach JB Pritzker →
Remember Her Name
Not as a headline.
Not as a statistic.
But as a reminder of what happens when politicians choose ideology over safety. When they choose illegal immigrants over their own citizens. When they choose power over people.
Sheridan Gorman was 18 years old.
She had her entire life ahead of her.
And she should still be here.
Demand accountability. Demand change. Demand better.
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