Durbin Calls On Senate To Honor Sheridan Gorman’s Memory By Working To Fix Our Broken Immigration System

Durbin Calls On Senate To Honor Sheridan Gorman's Memory By Working To Fix Our Broken Immigration System

Durbin: "Sadly, even our best efforts on a bipartisan basis won't bring back the victims, like Sheridan. But we can honor their memory by absolutely working together in a good faith effort to prevent tragedies like this in the future. I'm ready to try again."

WASHINGTON - During his opening statement in today's Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, expressed his condolences for the loss of Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old student at Loyola University Chicago who was tragically murdered last week. Jose Medina, a Venezuelan national who arrived in the United States in 2023, has been charged with Sheridan's murder.

During his remarks, Durbin called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to have a serious bipartisan conversation about how to prevent future tragedies like this one. He also noted that the 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill, which Durbin coauthored as part of the "Gang of Eight" and passed the Senate on a strong bipartisan vote of 68-32, would have helped address many of the issues plaguing our broken immigration system today. But the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives refused to even consider it. Durbin's opening remarks closed by calling on his colleagues to honor Sheridan's memory by working together in a bipartisan manner to fix our broken immigration system to prevent future tragedies.

Key Quotes:

"Last week, a few miles from my place in Chicago, Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old student at Loyola University [Chicago], was tragically murdered. My heart goes out to her family, friends, and faculty and students at Loyola who are literally grieving this loss of Sheridan today."

"Jose Medina, a Venezuelan national who arrived in the United States in 2023, has been charged with her murder. Medina was arrested in 2023 for shoplifting. He did not appear for his hearing, so a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. This information was available to the federal government-but Medina was not detained by ICE during the Biden Administration or the Trump Administration."

"This Committee is the right place to have a serious bipartisan conversation about how to prevent further tragedies like this… Our broken immigration system is in desperate need of bipartisan reform. We need order at the border… we should never knowingly allow a dangerous person to come into this country. If someone is in this country seeking citizenship or legal status and commits a serious crime, they should be deported immediately."

"President Trump campaigned on the promise that he would go after the worst of the worst-the rapists, murderers… The reality is that neither Democratic or Republican Administrations have delivered on this promise. And President Trump's reckless mass deportation campaign has not made us safer."

"Congress needs to step up and do our job, fix our broken immigration system. Some of the speeches you've already heard in this room were given by individuals who had a chance to vote for bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform and voted no."

"For years, I worked on a bipartisan basis… to put together a comprehensive plan… What did it do, this bipartisan plan? It secured our border so that no dangerous individuals could enter our country. It required strict vetting and tracking of all legal immigrants when they entered. It required all undocumented immigrants to register with the government and pass a background check. Those who posed any threat would be subject to deportation, others would pay a fine and taxes, go to the back of line behind legal immigrants, and work towards citizenship over time. That bill passed this United States Senate with over 60 votes. Unfortunately, the Republican House of Representatives refused to even consider it. We need to try again."

"Sadly, even our best efforts on a bipartisan basis won't bring back the victims, like Sheridan. But we can honor their memory by absolutely working together in a good faith effort to prevent tragedies like this in the future. I'm ready to try again."

Video of Durbin's opening statement is available here.

Audio of Durbin's opening statement is available here.

Footage of Durbin's opening statement is available here for TV Stations.

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