PHOTO BY SISTER BETH MURPHY
Cathy Schwartz, left, with Sister Marcelline Koch, center, and Sister Rose Miriam Schulte gathered with protestors May 7 in front of the Governor’s Mansion, where Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was initially expected to speak. Instead, Noem held her press conference near the home where Schwartz’s daughter, Emma Shafer, was murdered in July 2023.
In the wake of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s visit to Springfield, there are recriminations and explanations.
On May 7, Noem visited Springfield and held a news conference near the home where community activist Emma Shafer was slain in July 2023.
Police believe her former boyfriend, Gabriel Calixto-Pichardo, whose mother brought him to the U.S. illegally as a child, committed the homicide. He is wanted on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated domestic battery but remains on the lam.
Noem used Shafer’s death to try and bolster support for President Donald Trump’s deportation policies and to condemn Gov. JB Pritzker. She claimed Illinois law does not allow the state’s police to assist federal authorities in expelling foreign nationals.
“If they are here illegally, (Pritzker’s) going to protect them,” she said.
Noem added that she believes Calixto-Pichardo is hiding in Illinois but offered no evidence to support that notion.
Springfield Police Chief Ken Scarlette told Illinois Times May 13 that Calixto-Pichardo’s whereabouts are unknown. It is widely believed by local authorities that he is somewhere in Mexico.
Shafer’s mother, Cathy Schwartz, posted on Facebook: “We absolutely want justice for what happened to Emma. We have been awaiting justice for nearly two years. We want the person who took her from us held fully responsible.
“It is not justice, however, to use our Emma to blame and demonize millions of people unfairly. It is not justice to show up at Emma’s apartment and drag our pain and heartbreak into the national spotlight, without even asking or warning us. It is not justice to try to scare people into cruelty and hatred towards immigrants. That is not justice. That is ruthless indifference to our pain and exploitation of our deep loss, all for an agenda that she would have opposed.”
At Noem’s news conference she was surrounded by a phalanx of state GOP lawmakers, including state Sen. Steve McClure of Springfield.
In an interview with IT, McClure said he was unaware that the news conference would happen near Shafer’s apartment.
The legislators and reporters were brought by Homeland Security vehicles to the spot near Eighth and Canedy streets. Neither group was told until the news conference began that it was near the site of Shafer’s death.
Although McClure said he went to the site unaware of its significance, he stopped short of condemning Noem for choosing it.
“I was asked to participate in a press conference to talk about the fact that people who were noncitizens and commit crimes in this country and are convicted of those crimes, should not be in our country any longer,” he said. “So, I was there. … that’s the position that I think about 90% of the people of our state support.”
Along with the lawmakers, several “angel families” were present who have lost family members due to crimes committed by undocumented immigrants.
The news conference ended after 20 minutes when protesters arrived at the scene.
Protesters, including Shafer’s mother, had initially gathered across from the Governor’s Mansion, where Noem had been expected to speak. As word spread that Noem was holding her press conference at a different location, some of the protesters left to find her.
Sen. Teri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, said a protester spat at angel families as they walked away.
“One protester blocked the sidewalk and would not permit two angel moms and I to pass,” she told IT via text. “I told the woman who was blocking us and shouting ‘This is my neighborhood and my sidewalk, get out of here,’ that she really needed to move. After I firmly told her twice, an off-duty police officer from southern Illinois told her to move and told us to pass. We moved on and got in our cars.”
Noem said the Illinois Trust Act prohibits local law enforcement from communicating with federal immigration authorities and protects dangerous foreign nationals from apprehension.
“Governors like JB Pritzker don’t care if gangbangers, if murderers, rapists and pedophiles roll free in his state,” she told reporters.
But a January statement made by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said that police can assist in cases where an undocumented immigrant is wanted for a crime, although the state leaves the task of immigrant enforcement itself to the federal government.
“Civil immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the federal government. State law does not grant local law enforcement the authority to enforce federal civil immigration laws. This includes participating, supporting or assisting in any capacity with federal immigration enforcement operations unless federal agents have a criminal warrant, or federal law specifically requires it,” Raoul said.
He added the Trust Act does not limit police officers from executing their duties in criminal investigations.
Following Noem’s Springfield visit, which Pritzker called a “publicity stunt,” the governor reiterated that Illinois complies with federal immigration laws.
“Illinois doesn’t need to abuse power or ignore the Constitution to keep our people safe. Like the millions of Americans asking for sensible, humane immigration reform, I encourage the secretary to spend less time performing for Fox News and more time protecting the Homeland,” Pritzker said in a statement.
Sister Beth Murphy of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield said Noem was exploiting Shafer’s memory.
“It was a source of great grief for me, as it was for so many others, that she would do that in a way that was so harmful for Emma’s family and loved ones,” she said.
Murphy cited the words of newly elected Pope Leo XIV in calling for rhetoric in the media to be toned down.
She said of Noem’s remarks: “It’s the truth be damned. … And that’s a big problem. … We can turn it around if we will pay attention to the importance of the words that we say and the words that we write.”
As to Shafer’s legacy, Murphy added, “We lost a bright light here. I can only hope that Emma’s life and her example will continue to inspire other young people in Springfield because we certainly need that. We need that here more than anything.”