The mother of an 18-year-old college freshman killed in March by a criminal illegal immigrant asked lawmakers Tuesday to look her in the eye and explain why «people here illegally matter more» than American citizens, delivering emotional testimony during a congressional hearing on sanctuary policies.

Jessica Gorman, whose daughter Sheridan Gorman was fatally shot after going to the Chicago lakefront with friends to see the Northern Lights, accused sanctuary city leaders and politicians of failing to protect her child during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on sanctuary policies.

«I want you to imagine that little girl on the ‘buddy bench,’ that innocent college freshman with a heart full of compassion and a head full of dreams that was gunned down by an illegal immigrant,» Gorman said. «I want you to imagine that was your daughter, not mine. What if she was yours?»

CHICAGO MAYOR ASKED ABOUT CITY’S IMMIGRATION POLICIES AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ALLEGEDLY KILLED COLLEGE STUDENT

Gorman’s remarks came as she invoked a childhood story about Sheridan «stalking» the «buddy bench» at recess, waiting to help classmates who felt lonely or left out.

She lamented that her daughter, who spent her life making others feel seen, had been failed by the people responsible for protecting her.

«I bring this back to the buddy bench. I think Congress needs one. Yes, I think every governor, every mayor, every sanctuary city official and politician shifting blame and interest, hiding behind their slogans and talking points should have to all sit on one,» Gorman said. 

«I challenge you all to sit down with me. Take my hand, look me in the eye, and then explain to me, because I just don’t understand. Explain why people here illegally matter more than your American citizens. Explain why sanctuary policies matter more than my Sheridan’s life. Explain why cooperation with ICE was too much to ask for, but asking our American parents to bury our children is somehow acceptable. Ask me — I need you to tell me.«

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The man charged with the murder of a Loyola University freshman in a Rogers Park shooting in March was found with a weapon in jail, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office said. (Cook County Sheriff’s Office)

Gorman identified the man accused of killing her daughter as Jose Medina, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who she said «should not have even been in this country.» She said Medina had previously committed a crime and had an outstanding warrant before he was left on the streets of Chicago.

«But this story is not about him,» Gorman told lawmakers. «The story is about my Sheridan.»

The hearing focused on sanctuary policies and whether jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities are putting Americans at risk. Republicans argued those policies allow criminal illegal immigrants to be released back into communities instead of being turned over to ICE, while Democrats pushed back by arguing such policies preserve trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement.

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., who chairs the subcommittee, opened the hearing by saying Republicans would continue highlighting the families of victims until sanctuary policies are «rectified.» Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the ranking member, offered condolences to Gorman and another witness whose daughter was killed, but criticized the hearing as the committee’s fourth on sanctuary cities and argued Democrats should instead be examining the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.

Gorman, an 18-year-old Loyola University Chicago student, was shot and killed on March 19. She was walking along a lakefront pier at Tobey Prinz Beach with a group of friends when they encountered a masked man hiding behind a lighthouse structure. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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The hearing grew heated even before Gorman testified, when Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., introduced her and was interrupted by Democrats who said his remarks had turned from an introduction into a broader speech on immigration policy.

Gorman later told lawmakers she had never expected to become a public advocate, but said her daughter’s death forced her into the fight.

«I’m a lover, not a fighter,» Gorman said. «I’m not a public speaker. I’m not someone who ever speaks out about things. I have to.»

La melatonina es una hormona producida principalmente por la glándula pineal del cerebro. Su función principal es regular el ciclo sueño-vigilia y sincronizar los ritmos circadianos del organismo.

Desde hace varios años ya se indican comprimidos o cápsulas de melatonina como suplementos o medicamentos, según cada país, para el tratamiento del insomnio. Podría también tener un papel amplio en el tratamiento del dolor.

Científicos de la Universidad de Sídney en Australia revelaron que el uso de la melatonina podría reducir el dolor musculoesquelético crónico con una eficacia comparable a la de analgésicos de uso cotidiano.

El hallazgo cobra peso si se considera que hasta el 47% de la población mundial padece algún tipo de dolor musculoesquelético. Los investigadores señalaron que se trata de una opción económica y accesible que podría transformar la forma en que se aborda este tipo de dolor.

La investigación fue liderada por Kangchao Wu junto con Paulo Ferreira, del Centro de Investigación Musculoesquelética y la Escuela de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad de Sidney.

El estudio fue publicado en PAIN, la revista con revisión de pares que edita la Asociación Internacional para el Estudio del Dolor.

Desde Australia, el doctor Kangchao Wu aclaró a Infobae qué se sabe hoy sobre el perfil de paciente que podría llegar a beneficiarse con el uso de la melatonina para el dolor.

“En esta etapa, no podemos identificar un perfil específico de paciente para el que la melatonina funcione mejor que para otros. No hay evidencia suficiente dentro de cada condición musculoesquelética específica o grupo de edad para determinar si sus efectos difieren según el tipo de dolor, la edad u otras condiciones de salud”, afirmó en la entrevista con Infobae.

El dolor musculoesquelético agrupa condiciones como lumbalgia, artrosis y fibromialgia, además de los procesos de recuperación tras cirugías de columna o reemplazos articulares.

Los tratamientos disponibles, como el uso de opioides, antiinflamatorios no esteroideos y paracetamol, suelen traer consigo riesgos de dependencia o efectos adversos que limitan su uso prolongado.

Por eso, la preocupación por las consecuencias del uso extendido de estos medicamentos fue el punto de partida del estudio.

Ante ese panorama, los investigadores evaluaron si la melatonina, ya validada como reguladora del sueño, podía ofrecer algo más.

Buscaron determinar si el suplemento puede reducir la intensidad del dolor crónico y, a la vez, mejorar el descanso de quienes lo padecen. La hipótesis era que la conexión entre dolor y sueño podía convertir a la melatonina en un aliado con doble función.

El equipo analizó datos de 2.028 adultos que participaron en 23 ensayos clínicos aleatorizados, en los que los participantes se asignan al azar a diferentes grupos de tratamiento para obtener resultados más confiables.

Los estudios incluyeron personas con distintos tipos de dolor musculoesquelético y pacientes en recuperación de cirugías articulares y de columna.

Las dosis variaron según el tipo de dolor: entre 3 y 10 mg diarios para el dolor crónico, y entre 1 y 10 mg para el postoperatorio. En la mayoría de los casos, el suplemento se tomaba a la hora de dormir o hasta una hora antes.

Los análisis no identificaron una dosis óptima única, dado que la respuesta fue similar entre los distintos grupos evaluados; la de 3 mg diarios fue la más frecuente en los estudios de dolor crónico.

La melatonina redujo el dolor en cerca de nueve puntos sobre una escala de 0 a 100, y los ensayos más rigurosos registraron reducciones de hasta 10 puntos. Ese nivel de alivio es equiparable al de los analgésicos convencionales más utilizados.

El suplemento también mejoró la calidad del sueño de los participantes. “Para muchos pacientes, el dolor no existe de forma aislada y está estrechamente ligado al mal descanso”, dijo Wu.

“La melatonina parece actuar sobre ambos, lo que la hace especialmente útil para quienes manejan dolor crónico”, añadió.

Los efectos adversos más frecuentes fueron náuseas, mareos y cefaleas, con tasas similares a las del grupo placebo. No se reportaron eventos graves y no hay evidencia de que genere dependencia.

Los investigadores recomendaron consultar con un médico antes de iniciar el uso de melatonina, especialmente en personas que toman otros medicamentos o tienen condiciones de salud preexistentes.

“Después de una consulta médica, puede usarse como complemento de los tratamientos existentes, especialmente para quienes también tienen problemas de sueño”, dijo Wu.

Los científicos reconocieron que la evidencia actual no permite fijar una dosis ideal de melatonina ni recomendar su uso por más de tres meses, y llamó a realizar estudios de mayor escala para consolidar los hallazgos.

“El nivel de alivio del dolor que observamos es comparable al de algunos tratamientos convencionales, pero esto no significa que la melatonina deba reemplazarlos”, dijo Wu. “Más bien, puede ofrecer una opción adicional y más segura dentro de un plan de manejo del dolor más amplio”, resaltó.

El científico detalló: “No podemos afirmar si la melatonina podría reducir la dosis necesaria de opioides, ni si su beneficio potencial se limita a personas que aún no han iniciado ese tratamiento. Porque nuestro estudio no evaluó directamente estas preguntas y no hay evidencia suficiente que compare a personas que ya usan opioides con quienes no los usan. Cualquier cambio en el tratamiento con opioides debe realizarse únicamente bajo supervisión médica”.

“Es muy interesante el resultado del estudio publicado en la revista Pain. Aporta más pruebas a una línea de investigación que hemos venido desarrollando desde hace más de 25 años”, dijo a Infobae el doctor Daniel Cardinali, ex investigador en neurociencias del Conicet y asesor del Vicerrectorado de Investigación e Innovación Académica de la Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA).

En el año 2000, Cardinali con sus colaboradores Gustavo Citera, José Maldonado Cocco y otros colegas publicaron un trabajo en la revista Clinical Rheumatology en el que evaluaron el efecto potencial del tratamiento con melatonina sobre los trastornos del sueño, la fatiga y el dolor en pacientes con fibromialgia.

Los investigadores llevaron a cabo un estudio piloto con 21 pacientes (todas mujeres). Cada paciente recibió 3 miligramos de melatonina por vía oral, 30 minutos antes de dormir, y fue evaluada antes y después del tratamiento.

Al día 30, el recuento de puntos dolorosos, la severidad del dolor en áreas predesignadas, las valoraciones globales del paciente y del médico, y los niveles en la Escala Visual Analógica para medir la calidad o los trastornos del sueño mejoraron de manera estadísticamente significativa.

Otras variables, como la fatiga y el dolor general, mostraron tendencia a la mejoría sin alcanzar significación estadística, y los efectos adversos, como acidez, temblor, ansiedad y somnolencia, fueron leves y transitorios.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are taking their political playbook nationwide. 

One week after DSA-aligned candidates scored ballot-box victories over establishment-backed contenders in two congressional primaries in New York City that grabbed outsized national attention, the group scored another major upset in a deep-blue U.S. House district in Denver, Colorado.

Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette, who was first elected to Congress in 1996 and took office in 1997, was defeated by DSA-backed Melat Kiros, a first-time candidate and former attorney who is 29 years old.

Kiros’ victory comes a week after Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old progressive community organizer in New York City, ousted incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, another DSA-aligned contender, won a congressional primary to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez.

VICTORIES BY MAMDANI-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SPOTLIGHTS GROWING RIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY

The victories by Chevalier and Valdez, who were backed by socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, coupled with the win this week by Kiros, are further emboldening the progressive left as it takes on the center-left establishment in a high-stakes battle for the future of the Democratic Party. 

Hasan Piker, the controversial, far-left streamer, at the Kiros primary night event in Denver, told Fox News, «I think progressive politics, left populism, a politics that centers the needs of the working class, can work in every district, in every state. That’s why I kept saying over and over again, it’s coming to a city near you.» 

The latest DSA primary victory came in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, a Democrat-dominated seat anchored in Denver that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried by nearly 56 points in the 2024 election.

«Another Democratic Socialist is going to Congress!,» the DSA touted in a social media post. «Congresswoman Kiros will take the fight for a better world to D.C: to Abolish ICE, free Palestine, and win Universal Childcare and Medicare for All.» 

Kiros, who lost her job as a lawyer in New York after writing an essay critical of Israel, was also supported by Justice Democrats, the nearly decade-old political group known for heavily supporting «Squad» members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib as they toppled entrenched incumbents in their initial elections to Congress. 

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From left, Wanda James, Diana DeGette and Melat Kiros participate in a League of Women Voters Congressional District 1 candidate forum at Montview Presbyterian Church on May 28, 2026, in Denver, Colorado (Photo by RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

University of Colorado regent Wanda James, who jumped into the Democratic congressional primary in April and was described as a spoiler, finished third, in single digits. 

Progressives also scored an impressive victory in the neighboring 8th Congressional District, a crucial swing seat which stretches along the I-25 corridor north of Denver. 

State Rep. Manny Rutinel tallied a convincing double-digit victory over former state Rep. Shannon Bird, a more moderate candidate. Rutinel will now take on Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, who flipped the seat in the 2024 cycle. 

The race is considered one of two or three dozen that will determine if the GOP holds onto its razor-thin House majority in the midterms. 

Immigration was a top issue in the Democratic primary in a district where roughly 40% of the population is Latino. Rutinel criticized Bird for a vote she cast last year opposing a measure limiting cooperation between local and state law enforcement and ICE. And Rutinel was boosted by big spending from allies, including prominent Latino groups. 

State Rep. Manny Rutinel won the Democratic primary in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

While Rutinel has tempered his previous support for top progressive issues, including Medicare for All and opposition to fracking, Republicans viewed him as the easier general election challenger than Bird. During the primary campaign, the right spotlighted pictures of him rallying alongside Mamdani.

«Democrats have chosen a far-left, radical socialist, Mamdani-wanna-be extremist — someone who supports eliminating oil and gas, defunding law enforcement, calling farmers and ranchers horrific, and threatening the industries that power our economy,» Evans charged in a statement. 

Another primary showdown highlighting the split between progressives and moderates, as well as the party’s generational divide, was the Senate nomination battle between incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper, 74, and former state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a 43-year-old progressive. 

Hickenlooper, a former Denver mayor and two-term governor, saw his once-large advantage over Gonzales, a one-time DSA member, narrow in the weeks ahead of the primary. 

Hickenlooper prevailed and will now be the clear favorite in the general election against Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley, who was unopposed in his primary. 

Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado won renomination in Tuesday’s Democratic Senate primary. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

But Gonzales saw a silver lining in defeat, writing in a statement, «My heart is full, knowing that we’ve put the Democratic establishment on notice: keep taking folks like us for granted at your own peril.» 

Meanwhile, state Attorney General Phil Weiser topped U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in the expensive and combustible Democratic gubernatorial primary. 

Weiser, who ran to Bennet’s left on certain issues, closed the gap with the senator as he spotlighted his efforts to take on President Donald Trump, including filing or joining dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration as attorney general.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser defeated U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

Longtime Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, told Fox News Digital that «it is undeniable that progressives have built a coalition and have a message that can serve to buoy a candidate when they are an acceptable alternative to the status quo.» 

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While plenty of mainstream Democrats have racked up primary victories in recent weeks, it is the far-left that’s grabbing the media spotlight. And that’s giving Republicans more ammunition as they portray all Democrats as radicals. 

«The socialist takeover of the Democrat Party is no longer confined to deep-blue strongholds. The radicals are taking over battleground districts, putting must-win seats out of reach for Democrats and sinking their chances of flipping the House,» NRCC Spokesman Mike Marinella said as he pointed to Rutinel’s victory.

 Fox News’ Olivia Palombo and Matthew Donnell contributed to this report