By Dan Murphy
Rep. Lawler is fighting to allow Congress to override these policies
Local residents are fearful that a new law passed by Gov. Kathy Hochul could have devastating consequences similar to the tragic death of 20-year-old Yorktown Heights resident Sheridan Gorman. Many of us who grew up in Yorktown and still live in the area support the Gorman family and their efforts to make a change.
Gorman, a student at Loyola University, was shot and killed on March 19, 2026, while visiting friends in Chicago. Jose Medina, a Venezuelan national who entered the U.S. illegally and was previously released after a shoplifting arrest in Chicago, has been charged with her murder. At a recent House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, Jessica Gorman, Sheridan’s mother, told lawmakers a 10-second phone call from local police to ICE could have saved her daughter’s life.
Despite similar tragedies across the nation, Gov. Kathy Hochul and her Democrat colleagues in Albany recently passed a new law – “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act” – that prohibits local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities and strips state law enforcement funding from any department that refuses to comply.
“The sanctuary policies being pushed by Kathy Hochul and Democrats killed our daughter,” said Jessica.
The shocking death of Sheridan Gorman has attracted national attention and generated great scrutiny of current sanctuary and anti-ICE policies. These policies have also emerged as critical issues in New York’s District 17 congressional race between two-time Republican incumbent Mike Lawler and his Democrat opponent Cait Conley.
In the first televised District 17 debate this week on News 12, Jessica and her husband Tom asked the candidates if they supported New York’s new law and if they would support a bill to allow the federal government to override states on these matters. Lawler voiced strong opposition to Hochul’s new law and pledged to back any legislation that would end sanctuary jurisdictions in the United States. Conley did not express support for such a bill and her campaign website says she would revoke 287(g) agreements, which allows ICE to deputize local law enforcement officers to enforce federal civil immigration laws.
“After a tragedy like this, you’d think Cait Conley and Democrats in Albany would ask what went wrong and how we can prevent it from happening again,” said Lawler. “We should all remember why ICE has to be out there at all: Joe Biden let millions of illegal immigrants into this country without adequate vetting. You cannot throw open the border, tie the hands of law enforcement and then act shocked at the consequences.
“No one here is attacking legal immigration. My wife is a legal immigrant; I’ve been through this process with her. The problem is that our state has chosen, as official policy, to shield people who broke our laws and then committed crimes against New Yorkers. Let police officers do the jobs we trust them to do. In Congress, I will keep fighting to end sanctuary policies nationwide.”
In her remarks to lawmakers on Capitol Hill on June 30, Jessica Gorman urged them to fix sanctuary and anti-ICE laws.
“I challenge you all to sit down with me, take my hand, look me in the eye, and then explain to me — because I just don’t understand — explain why people here illegally matter more than your American citizens,” said Jennifer. “Explain why sanctuary policies matter more than my Sheridan’s life. I don’t understand why it’s only the Republican side that cares about our American children.”