Noem demands Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker drop sanctuary policies after alleged illegal immigrant murderer arrested: ‘He’s failing those families’
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker speaks during a rally where he announced he would be seeking a third term in the Illinois governor’s office on June 26, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
OAN Staff Blake Wolf 12:17 PM – Sunday, August 31, 2025
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem criticized Illinois Governor JB Pritzker for upholding sanctuary laws after requesting the extradition of an illegal immigrant who allegedly killed a woman in her Illinois apartment and has since fled to Mexico.
Gabriel P. Calixto is the individual suspected of stabbing 24-year-old Emma Shafer in her Springfield, Illinois, apartment in July 2023. Calixto was in the United States illegally when the crime was committed, and has since been captured by Mexican law enforcement.
Calixto is being charged with first-degree murder and domestic battery in connection with the attack.
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“The vicious illegal alien murderer who has been evading justice for two years after stabbing 24-year-old Emma Shafer has been ARRESTED. We will continue to work with federal authorities to coordinate extradition proceedings,” Noem stated. “THANK YOU to our law enforcement partners for bringing this perpetrator to justice.”
Noem went on to criticize Pritzker’s opposition to President Donald Trump’s imminent federal intervention in Chicago to conduct immigration raids while highlighting the issue of violent crime that has plagued Chicago for decades.
“For 13 consecutive years, Chicago had more murders than any other American city,” Noem stated on Sunday. “In fact, just last year, in 2024, they had three times the amount of murders than LA did, five times more than New York City.”
“So he can talk about what a great job he’s doing as governor, but he’s failing those families who will no longer have their child with them, their mother or their father or their cousin, aunt, and uncle that are gone forever because of the violence that’s happening in Chicago,” she continued.
Noem, a former governor of South Dakota, argued that Pritzker should be fighting for his people instead of the president, suggesting that it “seems like it’s more about Gov. Pritzker’s ego, now, rather than actually protecting his people.”
“If he has one murder in the city of Chicago, he should be calling President Trump and saying, ‘What’s your ideas? What can we do?’” Noem added.
“They don’t even honor our detainers in Chicago. They don’t go out there and work with us to make sure we’re bringing people to justice. And instead, he goes on TV and he attacks me when we’re doing exactly what those people need. They need someone to help them get the dangerous criminals off their streets.”
I went to Springfield, Illinois, to join Angel families to call for the end for dangerous sanctuary city policies under J.B. Pritzker and bring attention to an at-large illegal alien murderer who has been evading justice for two years for the stabbing of Emma Shafer.
The Trump administration’s potential deployment of the Illinois National Guard into Chicago follows a similar deployment in Washington, D.C., as part of a campaign to crack down on violent crime. The Chicago operation is also expected to target illegal immigrants residing in the city in coordination with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
After initial opposition, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser admitted that Trump’s federal takeover of the nation’s capital vastly reduced crime while arresting 1,528 individuals and seizing 156 illegal firearms.
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