Noem and victims' families urge Illinois to abandon sanctuary policies after local killings and overdoses

Kristi Noem, who identified herself as secretary of homeland security for President Trump, urged Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to abandon the state’s sanctuary policies at a Springfield press event and pressed local leaders to cooperate with federal immigration investigators. She was joined by families she described as “angel families” who said they lost relatives to violence and fentanyl overdoses.

“No more,” Noem said, adding that sanctuary rules have allowed dangerous people to evade deportation. “People are dying every day because of these policies, and people are evading justice.”

Noem cited several cases and named individuals she said illustrate the consequences of sanctuary policies. She said Emma Schafer was “brutally stabbed and murdered by an illegal alien who was released into The United States by the Biden administration,” and identified the person she named as Gabriel Callisto Picardo. Noem also said the state has limited information-sharing with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) because of state law. She said Illinois’ sanctuary status dates to 2017 and said Gov. J.B. Pritzker expanded access to taxpayer-funded health care for people in the country without authorization in 2020, which she said cost Illinois $1.6 billion.

Family members who spoke described the deaths that brought them to the event. Jim Walden said his son, Jimmy Walden, was a 21-year-old Marine assigned to intelligence work who was killed while riding a motorcycle by a man Noem described as a twice-deported noncitizen; Jim Walden said authorities in Maryland had known the man was in the country five years earlier and that the man had multiple prior convictions. “Jimmy would have been 30 years old yesterday,” Walden said. “There’ll never be a fourth, and we’ll never know.”

Kathy Zander said her son, John, died of fentanyl poisoning after using cocaine that she said was contaminated; she called fentanyl “a weapon of mass destruction” and said, “We are losing 300 Americans a day on American soil.” Nancy (last name unclear), who identified herself as the mother of Nick, said her 37-year-old son died of fentanyl and xylazine and had helped others seek treatment before his death.

Brian McCann, who said he founded Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime, described his brother Dennis as 66 when he was struck and killed while crossing the street in Chicago; McCann said the man convicted in that case fled to Mexico and was later returned to serve time in an Illinois prison. McCann said his organization works with victims nationwide and has lobbied in Congress.

Noem also alleged a series of recent arrests and crimes she said occurred while Pritzker has been governor, and said arrests between October 2023 and November 2024 include individuals repeatedly released after arrest. She said state laws and policies preventing local cooperation with federal immigration investigators have blocked efforts to bring some suspects to federal custody. “We should be united as a country around bringing violent criminals to justice and getting them out of The United States Of America,” Noem said.

Reporters asked for statistics and for confirmation of specific case details during the event; Noem and family members cited a binder of case information they said documents local incidents. Noem described the obligations of federal law and said a federal law implemented May 7 (described during the event as having been passed about 20 years ago) allows valid identification for federal transportation systems, but she did not provide independent documentation at the event for the policy or the figures she cited.

The event consisted of public remarks and personal testimony; it did not produce a formal vote or policy change. Noem called on state leaders to change Illinois law so local law enforcement can share information with ICE and HSI. The event did not include a response from Gov. Pritzker or a representative of the Illinois governor’s office.

The families and speakers asked officials and residents to press for changes in state law so they say federal and local authorities can cooperate more closely; the event combined personal testimony about individual deaths with political appeals to alter Illinois’ current policies regarding immigration enforcement and interagency information-sharing.