New Documentary: ‘Preventable: How the System Failed Sheridan Gorman’

Sheridan Gorman, 18, was killed by an illegal immigrant in Chicago in March 2026. Her parents are now telling her story in hopes of preventing another preventable death.

Jose Medina, a Venezuelan national, crossed the Texas border in 2023, and instead of being deported, he was transported to a sanctuary city, Chicago. After being apprehended and released twice without appearing in court, Medina shot and killed Gorman in the back as she ran from him on a pier near Loyola University.

In the new documentary “Preventable: How the System Failed Sheridan Gorman,” her family sits down with Lora Ries, director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation.

“He shouldn’t have been here, he shouldn’t have been in the U.S., he shouldn’t have been in Chicago, and he shouldn’t have been on the pier,” Ries says. “It’s a parent’s worst nightmare to have to bury their child. But that nightmare is made infinitely worse when the parent learns their child’s death was preventable.”

The sanctuary policies in Chicago prevent law enforcement from communicating with federal immigration agents. So, when criminals are arrested by local police, Department of Homeland Security agents are often not notified.

“I think most people think of a sanctuary city as just a safe place where illegal aliens can live without fear of being deported,” Ries continued. “But what they ignore are American citizens in those communities, and lawful immigrants, and the effects that they suffer from protecting criminal aliens,” she said.

“We’re going to get justice for our daughter by speaking out against these policies to ensure that this does not happen again and does not happen to their family,” Thomas Gorman said.

“Our only goal is to make sure this doesn’t happen to another family, another innocent American citizen,” Jessica Gorman added.

The family shared that they never thought this would be a political fight. They thought America would rally around their story and realize the harm sanctuary policies had caused. However, that has not been the case.

The documentary, produced by The Heritage Foundation, calls on the Trump administration to heighten border security and deport more illegal immigrants.

“Thus far, the Trump administration has been using a ‘worst of the worst’ policy to prioritize who they deport. But frankly, that’s not enough,” says Ries. “Worst of the worst gets you deportable aliens who committed additional crimes, but you don’t know when one of those deportable aliens is going to commit an additional crime. And Americans shouldn’t have to wait for additional crimes to be committed for such aliens to suddenly become a priority for deportation,” she concluded.

You can watch the full documentary here.

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