Chicago, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – It’s time to start holding “ICE” accountable.
That’s according to most of the candidates running for a seat in the U.S. Senate from Illinois in next year’s election — the seat incumbent Dick Durbin is retiring from.
Among the nine candidates participating in the forum, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton says given recent incidents in Broadview, and given that President Trump is sending National Guard Troops to Illinois against Gov. JB Pritzker’s wishes, it’s important to continue to stand up and speak out.
“I can tell you right now when Donld Trump says he’s going after the worst of the worst, so to speak, that’s not what he’s doing,” said Stratton. “He’s going into schools. He’s going into houses of worship. He’s going after our neighbors, and I have been a strong voice. I’ve protested. I’ve gone out to the Broadview facility. I’ve made sure that I said that we need to close that facility.”
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi says the filing of a federal lawsuit Monday by the Pritzker administration against the Trump administration is a great start, but…
“I have also proposed legislation in Congress that would bar the deployment of National Guard without the consent of the governor or the mayor in which they’re trying to deploy,” said Krishnamoorthi. “It doesn’t make sense for ICE — which is the 15th largest military force in the world — to come to Chicago and perform domestic law enforcement duties.”
Congresswoman Robin Kelly says she’s been paying attention to what has happened in the Chicago suburb of Broadview when federal ICE agents came in. Kelly says she was in her own district when she started to notice what was happening there.
“That was my district where the helicopters came down, and they did the gestapo tactics. My comments made me get on Donald Trump’s most favorite people list. I think I am number four for talking about gestapo tactics,” said Kelly. “We need to have immigration reform, and ICE needs to be a part of it. They are just doing what the leadership is telling them to do.”
All of the nine candidates for the seat in the Senate Dick Durbin is retiring from were opposed to increases in funding for ICE in a federal reconciliation bill, on top of their normal appropriations, and Kelly says you can see why.
The candidates for Senate taking part in the debate, hosted by Citizen Action Illinois at Chicago State University, include:
- Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi
- Rep. Robin Kelly
- Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton
- Kevin Ryan
- Christopher Swann
- Adam Delgado
- Awisi Bustos
- Bryan Maxwell
- Jonathan Dean
There are also a few Republicans running, most notably former state GOP chair Don Tracy. He was not in attendance.
