Illinois Democratic Senate hopefuls target President Donald Trump’s immigration policies at labor forum

Nov

2025

In the News

Illinois Democratic Senate hopefuls target President Donald Trump’s immigration policies at labor forum

The three major candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in March each used a union forum Thursday night to pledge their fealty to organized labor and vowed to hold President Donald Trump accountable if elected.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Illinois AFL-CIO and the Chicago Federation of Labor, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly each blamed Trump for voter concerns over affordability, a winning strategy among Democrats in off-year elections nationally earlier this month.

But they also attacked Trump’s immigration enforcement policies and the aggressive tactics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents in Operation Midway Blitz, saying they would pursue comprehensive reform while pushing the administration to answer for its actions.

Stratton, the two-term lieutenant governor under Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, sought to portray herself as the outsider against the Washington “status quo” of her two rivals, who now serve in Congress.

“I can tell you that this is a time where we need real fighters,” Stratton told the audience of union members at the headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 134 in Bronzeville.

“The people are showing us the energy that they want us to bring in this particular moment. They’re showing us when they head to the streets and say, ‘No Kings.’ They’re showing us when they hold up their signs saying, ‘Hands off my Social Security.’ And they’re showing us when they blow their red whistles, saying, ‘Come help. ICE is in my community, and we need to stand up for our neighbors.’ That is the kind of energy that we need to meet this moment. The people are showing it,” Stratton said.

But Kelly, a 12-year congresswoman from Lynwood, sought to counter Stratton’s call.

“It’s one thing to be a fighter, but you’ve got to be a winner too. You can’t just fight. You have to have things to show for it,” she said, touting her ability to work across the political aisle.

“I’m not a big talker. I will tell you that I’m a workhorse. I’m not a show horse. My best compliment is … when someone said, ‘I simply just tell people Robin Kelly gets s−−− done,’ and that’s what I do.”

Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg pointed to his five congressional victories in a mostly northwest suburban district that gave Trump 47% of the 2024 vote as proof that he will “always fight for our constituents.”

“The reason why voters have consistently reelected me is because I stand up for them, and they know that my office and I have been indispensable partners to them as they pursue their American dream,” he said.

Krishnamoorthi, who as an infant came from India as his family settled in Peoria, said the aggressiveness of Trump’s immigration actions was “personal” to him.

“We obviously want to control our borders, but we have to conduct our immigration policy in a humane way,” he said, calling for a pathway to citizenship for longtime immigrants who have contributed to their communities. “We need to make sure that our government treats people with respect and due process, and that’s why I believe ICE is out of control, completely out of control.”

Saying, “we cannot be the country we aspire to be without immigrants,” Krishnamoorthi said Trump and his allies need to be held accountable for the fear and chaos federal agents caused.

“We must shine a light on the harm they’re doing to people and workers, and we have to hold people accountable who would be supportive of those policies — that would include our colleagues on the other side,” he said.

Stratton, labeling the actions of federal agents “atrocities,” acknowledged a need for comprehensive immigration reform, which has been stalled in Congress for decades. But she said the Trump administration’s actions required urgency.

“We’ve been dragged into a five-alarm fire, and we need fighters who are going to stand up to Donald Trump,” she said, adding that ICE’s recently increased federal funding needs to be pulled back and the money used for social programs.

“This is not just about immigration at all. This is about the rise of authoritarianism. This is about a wannabe dictator. And we’ve made it real clear here in Illinois and in the city of Chicago, there are no kings in Illinois. There are no kings in America. And we will stand up and we’ll fight this role, this fascism that we are seeing from this government, and he’s using our immigrant neighbors as scapegoats,” she said.

All three candidates, vying to become the successor to retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, credited organized labor for standing up against the administration’s immigration enforcement tactics. But they also warned that Trump is using his second term to try to weaken workers’ ability to unionize and collectively bargain.

Each called for an increase in the federal minimum wage and derided Republicans for pursuing an agenda to reward the wealthy with tax breaks at the expense of the working class, moves the three argued pushed up consumer prices.

Stratton criticized her two chief rivals for accepting corporate contributions from political action committees, saying that placating business interests has led voters to say that “they don’t feel like their voices are being heard.” Stratton has vowed not to accept corporate PAC contributions.

Kelly acknowledged she did accept some corporate contributions, “but check my record. I know who put me in office. I know who can take me out of office. And I know I vote like my constituents want me to vote. I know I can look at myself in the mirror. I’m not a cheap date. Just because someone gives me $2,500 or $1,000, that does not mean I’m going to vote a certain way. I do my homework. I know my district, and I represent them.”

Krishnamoorthi — a prolific fundraiser who is the only candidate to air TV ads so far — bristled at the PAC criticism, saying he has “tens of thousands of individual donors” and has gone after “conglomerates” while he’s been in Congress.

“I know struggle. Nothing has ever been handed to me. I’ve had to work for every single thing I’ve gotten. No one made me in Illinois politics. Every dollar I’ve received, every endorsement I’ve gotten, has been through our hard work on my campaign,” he said.

The forum, moderated by Jennifer Rodriguez, political and field mobilization director of the national AFL-CIO, marked the first time the three top-tier candidates for the Senate seat have directly squared off. The full field for the seat includes 14 candidates, but many have not been elected to previous posts or have not raised significant cash for their campaigns.

Each candidate touted their support for organized labor, a powerful Democratic constituency. Krishnamoorthi entered the event having won the backing of Chicago-based Teamsters Local 705, the state’s largest Teamsters’ local, and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 881, as well as some branches of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Letter Carriers Association and Elevator Constructors Local 2.

“I have been a partner to you every step of the way in the last 10 years of this national nightmare we call the Trump era. I’ve been there with you on the picket lines. I’ve been there with you in the hearings going after (U.S. Postmaster General) Louis DeJoy, who seeks to decimate the United States Postal Service. I’ve been with you to pass legislation that would go after the Chinese Communist Party that is actively trying to undermine your constituents and our workers and our entire economy,” Krishnamoorthi said. “I will continue to fight. You know that because you’ve been with me in that fight every step of the way, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Stratton picked up her first labor endorsement earlier this week from the Illinois Nurses Association. Backed by Pritzker, who is the de facto leader of the state Democratic Party, Stratton has also been endorsed by several local and state Democratic officials.

“I’m proud to have been a part of taking Illinois from the place where we had a governor who wanted to make this a right-to-work state, and now Illinois is one of the most pro-union states in the nation. We did that together, and I want to take that fight to Washington, D.C.,” Stratton said, referencing Pritzker’s one-term Republican predecessor, Bruce Rauner, who sought to curb the power of public employee unions.

Kelly, an ardent gun control advocate, has the backing of the anti-gun violence Brady PAC as well as the Congressional Black Caucus PAC.

“I know how much you mean to the nation. I know how much you mean to this state. I know how much you mean to this city,” she said of organized labor. “So I have always been there. I’ve always had your back, and I’d like to say you’ve had my back too, which I really, really appreciate.”

Member unions of the state AFL-CIO, which represent more than 850,000 workers, are scheduled to convene Dec. 9 in Countryside to consider their primary endorsements.

By Rick Pearson