Angel Families Plead with Leaders to Prioritize Americans after Migrant Suspects Kill Daughters

Parents mourning American daughters killed by illegal immigrants called on national leaders Friday to prioritize U.S. citizens.

Angel families rallied behind Jess and Tom Gorman, whose daughter Sheridan was shot dead in Chicago in March. The first-year Loyola University student died at the hands of Jose Medina-Medina, a Venezuelan who entered the country illegally. The Department of Homeland Security said authorities released Medina-Medina months earlier despite an active Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer.

"I don't understand what these politicians are thinking," Jess Gorman said Thursday on "The Story."

"To me, things like that show that they value these undocumented migrants more than they value our American citizens, our American children. And honestly, you almost want to just make a plea: 'Choose us. Choose my American child,'" she added.

Cheryl Minter, whose daughter Stephanie was stabbed to death at a Virginia bus stop in February, demanded accountability. A suspect from Sierra Leone with a lengthy criminal record faces charges in the case.

"Isn't that their jobs to keep us safe? And they're just, they're not," Minter said Friday on "Fox & Friends First."

"They're allowing all these people that just do horrendous crimes over and over again to stay in our streets, and they're not even detaining them at all," she said. "It's just horrible that this keeps happening."

Joe Abraham, father of Katie Abraham, killed in a January 2025 hit-and-run in Urbana, Illinois, said the illegal immigrant convicted in the case received protection from state policies at every turn.

"Not every victim dies like Katie or Sheridan. There are so many victims that are created every day because of these reckless guardrailless policies," Abraham said.

"It's amazing to me, no one in Illinois steps up and says, 'Yeah, we got to reassess, and we've got to change direction a little bit.'"

Tom Gorman rejected the idea of his daughter's death as senseless violence. "I just think that when policies are in place that protect unvetted migrants who do commit a crime, there is a risk," he said.

"I have to live every day with a choice in my head. Was my daughter an unintended consequence of good policy or the consequence of bad policy? And I know the answer for me."

At a White House event Friday, President Donald Trump addressed the mothers present. "I just want to wish you all a very happy Mother's Day. We're going to have a great Mother's Day," he said.

"And for those mothers that lost their child, many of whom are with us today, the angel moms and others, Gold Star moms, we love you especially. We love you, maybe even the most," Trump added.