SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ once-sleepy Democratic primary for retiring Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat heated up Monday night as the three leading contenders used their first live debate to cast themselves as the strongest bulwark against President Donald Trump and his administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.
The hourlong debate, hosted by the Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ and the University of Chicago, came in the wake of two deadly shootings involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month that have sparked national outcry – and echoed the enforcement campaign that targeted and disrupted the Chicago region last fall.
Abolish ICE?
The three candidates – Rep. Robin Kelly of Lynwood, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton – all to varying degrees called for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be dismantled but differed on the extent.
“I want to abolish ICE because this agency cannot be reformed,” Stratton said, adding that “it doesn’t matter whose ICE it is.”
Stratton sought to create a wedge against her opponents, going even further than Gov. JB Pritzker, who came out in favor of abolishing “Trump’s ICE.” The agency has ratcheted up in aggressiveness since it received a massive funding boost under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Trump signed last year. Pritzker has endorsed his No. 2’s campaign.
Some Democrats view the phrasing as an attempt to qualify a slogan that, in its absolute form, could politically backfire, much as “defund the police” did for the party in 2020.
Krishnamoorthi said he supports abolishing “Trump’s ICE” while backing reforms such as banning agents from wearing face coverings, requiring visible identification, and installing an inspector general within the agency to ensure compliance with laws and regulations.
Kelly said they needed to “dismantle ICE” and “build an agency that people can trust” as part of a larger overhaul of the nation’s immigration system.
“The Department of Homeland Security is too big, too unwieldy and not accountable, and we need to do all this in the guise of immigration reform,” Kelly said. “It can’t be one thing or another.”
Race heats up
Pressure on ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has intensified in recent weeks as the agencies carry out an aggressive enforcement campaign in the Minnesota, which has led to violent confrontations between agents and protestors.
Earlier this month, it turned deadly after an ICE agent shot 37-year-old American citizen Renee Good at close range while she apparently attempted to flee a traffic stop. Over the weekend, a Border Patrol agent fatally shot 37-year-old American citizen Alex Pretti.
Senior Trump administration officials later labeled both as “domestic terrorists,” despite them having no criminal records. Video footage and witness accounts contradicted the government’s initial versions of events, prompting questions about the use of deadly force.
The uproar has spilled over into Illinois’ Democratic primary for Senate.
Days after Good’s killing, Kelly introduced articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The measure has 140 cosponsors, including Krishnamoorthi and most of Illinois’ Democratic congressional delegation.
Immigration dominated the debate even before it began, with Krishnamoorthi’s campaign and allies of Stratton releasing ads hours before highlighting their candidates’ positions on ICE.
“Donald Trump has weaponized ICE against our cities and our people,” Krishnamoorthi said in a 30-second TV ad. “Torn apart families, terrorized neighborhoods. We should abolish Trump’s ICE. We can’t have a government or ICE running out of control. It’s morally wrong, and it’s unlawful.”
Illinois Future PAC, a group supporting Stratton, launched a targeted digital ad focusing on the immigration issue.
“Juliana Stratton has made clear ICE must be abolished – not reformed, not retrained, abolished,” a narration reads. “Every candidate on the debate stage knows what ICE is doing to our state and our country. Juliana Stratton will do what it takes to stop it. And that’s the difference.”
Stratton attacks
Trailing in fundraising and polling, Stratton further attempted to use immigration as a wedge against her opponents, particularly Krishnamoorthi, accusing the Schaumburg Democrat voting to “thank ICE” and for accepting “funding from ICE contractors.”
She pointed to almost $30,000 in campaign contributions Krishnamoorthi received from Shyam Sankar, the chief technology officer of Palantir, which holds a $30 million contract with ICE to provide tools to track self-deportation, the Sun-Times reported last month.
The contributions, made over several years, represent a miniscule fraction of the millions Krishnamoorthi’s raised over the past decade. And after the news report came out, his campaign said it donated the sum of Sankar’s contributions to unnamed immigrant rights groups.
Stratton also criticized Krishnamoorthi for joining Republicans and 74 Democrats last year in voting for a resolution that, in part, expressed “gratitude” to ICE officers, arguing that it is “not the example of somebody who is going to stand up to Donald Trump.”
The language was attached to a larger resolution condemning anti-Semitism following a 2025 terrorist attack that killed a dozen people at a rally for Israeli hostages in Colorado. Krishnamoorthi defended the vote, saying that he’s “going to condemn anti-Semitism eight days out of the week” and that it was important to signal support to the Jewish community.
Recognizing himself as “the only immigrant on this stage,” Krishnamoorthi — born in India — defended his oversight record, arguing that he was “the only candidate on the stage that actually inspected an ICE facility itself.”
“We can either roll over or we can fight,” Krishnamoorthi said. “And I say we have to fight.”
“We have to fight in the courts. We have to fight in the press. We have to fight in the court of public opinion, in the halls of Congress and, yes, the United States Senate,” he said. “But we should never, ever, ever surrender our values.”
Stratton also criticized Krishnamoorthi and Kelly for accepting donations from corporate political action committees. They pushed back, accusing Stratton — who has pledged not to accept corporate PAC money — of hypocrisy, noting that Illinois Future PAC has yet to disclose its donors despite running ads in support of her candidacy.
Kelly acknowledged accepting contributions from corporate PACs, but said she votes “like the people who put me in office want me to vote.”
“And the corporate PAC money I take? You see who I take corporate PAC money from, unlike the commercial that the lieutenant governor has that is paid for by dark money, and we don’t know who’s behind those commercials,” Kelly said.
Party leadership
Stratton said she would not support keeping Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in charge of the upper chamber’s Democrats. Kelly and Krishnamoorthi said they would hear him — and any other possible candidates — out.
Kelly, Krishnamoorthi and Stratton will debate again on Thursday on ABC 7 Chicago.
Early voting begins Feb. 5. And the primary election is March 17.
The seven other Democratic candidates running for Senate include Steve Botsford, Sean Brown, Awisi Bustos, Jonathan Dean, Bryan Maxwell, Kevin Ryan and Christopher Swan.
There are six Republicans running for the office: Cary Capparelli, Casey Chlebek, Jeannie Evans, Pamela Denise Long, Jimmy Lee Tillman II and Don Tracy.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.