News/Commentary

Death of Loyola student by Biden-era illegal alien is pegged on Trump instead

March 23, 2026 | | Print Article

A young woman’s death, allegedly at the hands of an illegal alien, found a think tank libertarian unloading on the White House, but not the administration responsible for the open border.

Thursday in Chicago, Illinois, 18-year-old Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman was fatally shot while walking in the park. After the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pegged a Venezuelan national as their suspect, Cato Institute Director of Immigration Studies David J. Bier ignored the Biden administration’s culpability in releasing the man into the country and instead faulted President Donald Trump for supposedly “racial profiling random people on the street.”

A social media dispute quickly followed after Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin initially reported Sunday, “DHS confirms that the suspect in custody for murdering Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman in Chicago is a Venezuelan illegal alien who was caught & released at the border by the Biden administration in May 2023. DHS says he was also released from local custody.”

Responding to the post that featured side-by-side images of the 25-year-old illegal alien Jose Medina-Medina and Gorman, Bier posted, “Interesting that ICE didn’t track him down after his shoplifting arrest, as mandated by the Laken Riley Act, because Trump’s DHS has completely ignored the Laken Riley Act in favor of racial profiling random people on the street.”

In dispute of the immigration policy chair of Cato’s The Selz Foundation’s take, Melugin fired back, “Because it happened in 2023 when the Biden administration policy was that a shoplifting charge wouldn’t be an enforcement priority for ICE. Nor would sanctuary Chicago have notified ICE they had him: The Laken Riley Act passed in 2025. His prior arrest was in 2023.”

According to DHS, which detailed that an arrest detainer had been lodged against the release of Medina-Medina, the illegal alien, “should have never been in our country, but was RELEASED into our communities by the Biden administration. He was then released AGAIN following an arrest for shoplifting in Chicago, Illinois. Illinois sanctuary politicians and Governor Pritzker must work with us to ensure this public safety threat is NEVER released back into our neighborhoods again.”

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Bier’s attempt to counter with the act’s retroactive application was met by the Fox News correspondent posting, “So, let me get this straight. It’s the Trump admin’s fault for not having ICE arrest this ‘non violent’ criminal, when you & others are calling for less ICE enforcement every day, but Biden has no blame for releasing him at the border & sanctuary Chicago has no blame for releasing him a second time without handing him to ICE?”

While the libertarian, previously ripped by Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy (R) over “hyperbolic” social media posts, held fast to his position and accused Melugin of “whataboutism” while earning support from an account arguing the Trump administration had prioritized deporting “non-criminal” illegal aliens, the Fox News correspondent reminded, “They did an entire operation in Chicago and met resistance every single step of the way with zero local cooperation. Hard to do much targeted enforcement when activists with whistles are following ICE everywhere.”

To his point, there have been multiple instances where sex offenders have been on the receiving end of support from anti-ICE activists, interfering with arrest attempts. While others added their own criticism of Bier, Melugin went on, “I’m sure ICE would’ve loved to grab his guy if they could’ve.”

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Kevin Haggerty
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