Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Family members of some victims of violent crime allegedly perpetrated by illegal immigrants stood alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as she spoke Wednesday not far from where local activist Emma Shafer was killed two years ago, allegedly by her still-wanted boyfriend.

Jim Walden of Peoria says his 21-year-old son Jimmy was killed while riding his motorcycle in Maryland, and claims the suspect had entered that state illegally three times before being caught.

“For our Governor (JB Pritzker) to get on national television and say he’s going to protect these people, is a gut punch to anybody that’s lost one,” said Walden.

Walden says his son would have turned 30 Tuesday, and now he’s left wondering what his son would become.

The family of Shafer, meanwhile, joined the protest against Noem’s visit near the Governor’s Mansion.  Some of that group made it to the site where Noem had changed her event to, just prior to her ending the event, and some could be seen walking down 8th Street toward Scarritt.  Some shouted and chanted at Noem, while at least one other blew a whistle.  Some got into a confrontation with Springfield Police on the scene, blocking Scarritt between 8th and 9th Streets while Noem and others spoke.

Among who backed Noem was  Kathy Zander of Carol Stream.  Zander’s son died after ingesting cocaine allegedly laced by an immigrant with fentanyl.

“I’m sure now with this (Trump) administration, everybody’s heard of fentanyl,” said Zander.  “It’s a weapon of mass destruction, and we all know it’s flooding our streets.  We all know where it’s coming from, and it needs to stop.”

Zander says now is not the time to, as she put it, turn your head and ignore the problem.

A man whose brother was killed by an allegedly drunk driver and illegal immigrant in Chicago more than a decade ago says he’s not giving up on the issue of illegal immigration and crimes those people may commit.

Brian McCann has been working on behalf of victims of crime allegedly perpetrated by illegal immigrants, and says the state, and specifically Chicago, has been a safe haven for immigrants long before -B Pritzker became governor, at least if his brother’s death is any indication.

“Two months after my brother was killed, Cook County encoded the law, and passed a sanctuary law,” said McCann, founder of “Advocates for Victims of Illegan Alien Crime.”  “A year after that, the city did, and about seven or eight years [later], Pritzker signed Illinois to go sanctuary.”

McCann says Illinois, in his words, is one of the most notorious states in the union for protecting illegal immigrants, and that needs to stop.

Walden, meanwhile, says anyone who wants to enter this country needs to do so legally, and states need to enforce laws that are on the books.

 

 

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