On Thursday, Feb. 26, Democratic candidates working for congressional consultant in Illinois’ seventh district gathered in downtown Chicago to talk to Streeterville and River North residents about their stances on bipartisanship, public security, training, and immigration.
Whereas unlawful immigration has ranked as a low social precedence within the metropolis’s previous elections, based on a recent study carried out by the National Opinion Research Center on the College of Chicago, Chicagoans’ concern is growing.
In a mirrored image of this shifting perspective, practically all candidates on the discussion board advocated for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); nevertheless, they did have completely different opinions on pathways to citizenship, amnesty, and pursuing prosecution of ICE’s federal brokers. Candidates had been additionally extremely vital of the present administration, labeling President Trump’s immigration techniques as abusive and anti-Constitutional.
“About half of Chicagoans believed the variety of immigrants must be decreased in Summer season and Fall of 2024, whereas 4 in 10 felt the identical in Spring 2025 and Summer season 2025,” reads the ChicagoSpeaks survey from NORC.
The elected congressional representatives can influence ICE and Border Patrol procedures in a pair methods. As a unified physique, Congress holds the facility of the purse; nevertheless, the Home tends to carry the first authority as that is the place payments that management authorities spending should originate. These elected to the Home of Representatives can even provoke different legislative motion to change, restructure or abolish ICE, and can even introduce impeachment processes.
Beneath is what every candidate in Illinois’ seventh Congressional District stated.
La Shawn Ford
La Shawn Ford talking on the Discussion board for seventh US Congressional District Democratic Candidates at Harry Caray’s seventh Inning Stretch in Streeterville. By Britton Struthers-Lugo, February 26, 2026.
La Shawn Ford is a Chicago native, born within the Cabrini-Inexperienced housing initiatives and a profession public servant. Since his election in 2007, Ford has served as a West Aspect eighth District state consultant. He runs his platform on six main pillars, which embody financial alternative, growing entry to healthcare, housing stability, and felony justice reform, amongst others. He additionally has been vocal concerning the significance of voting and civil rights.
On the Feb. 26 discussion board, Ford deemed complete immigration reform as a precedence, and condemned the injury performed to households as a result of “you don’t have complete immigration reform.”
“My precedence is to ensure we join households, be sure that we don’t separate households on this nation. As an African-American, I perceive what it means to be separated out of your households. It’s heartbreaking. So I’ve all the time supported preserving households collectively on this nation,” stated Ford.
Richard Boykin
Richard Boykin talking on the Discussion board for seventh US Congressional District Democratic Candidates at Harry Caray’s seventh Inning Stretch in Streeterville. By Britton Struthers-Lugo, February 26, 2026.
Richard Boykin is a long-time Chicago resident who was raised in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. He’s an lawyer, and likewise served as chief of workers and legislative director to U.S. Rep. Danny Davis within the late 90s and early 2000s. He was additionally elected to function 1st District Commissioner in 2014. In his campaign for congressman, he has championed elevated affordability for housing, meals, healthcare and childcare, in addition to public security and lowering gun violence.
Whereas he echoed Ford’s sentiments of the need of complete immigration reform, he added that ICE have to be abolished.
“Let’s be sure that the Dreamers are taken care of. Let’s additionally be sure that we discover a pathway to citizenship for all those that are right here not documented,” stated Boykin. “Quite a lot of these of us are literally working and doing loads of the work in the direction of our economic system. We are able to’t scapegoat them. We are able to’t do the issues that this administration is doing, and so we have now to be sure that we work to get complete immigration reform and ensure we offer a pathway to citizenship for everyone.”
Boykin was solely certainly one of two candidates who straight talked about supporting the recipients of Deferred Motion for Childhood Arrivals, or “Dreamers,” who’ve been more and more focused by federal deportation actions.
David Ehrlich
David Ehrlich talking on the Discussion board for seventh US Congressional District Democratic Candidates at Harry Caray’s seventh Inning Stretch in Streeterville. By Britton Struthers-Lugo, February 26, 2026.
David Ehrlich, a former public coverage professor who has simply over twenty years of expertise working in Congress, has a number of the most direct coverage and congressional expertise. Ehrlich advocates for ending corruption and offering accountability in authorities, robust local weather coverage, reducing prices of well being care, meals, housing and power and lowering gun violence.
On the discussion board, he known as ICE “extremely merciless” and “unhealthy policing.” He was the third to name for coverage reform, and the second to advocate for a clearer pathway to citizenship.
“I’m in favor of a one-time amnesty. Now we have to make it clear that it is a one-time amnesty, nevertheless it’s labored earlier than. It’s labored right here. It’s labored in different international locations. And I feel that’s the one approach we are able to deliver everybody right into a authorized citizenship,” stated Ehrlich.
One of the vital well-known U.S. makes use of of one-time amnesty is the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which concurrently launched penalties to employers who knowingly employed undocumented people, but in addition supplied lawful everlasting residency to undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. previous to 1982.
“We have to proceed to have some immigration into the U.S., in actual fact, a good quantity of immigration within the U.S.,” he continued. “If we shut off the borders, like Trump want to do and like Stephen Miller want to do, we’re going to proceed to destroy our economic system, improve inflation, and have a variety of different issues that we don’t need.”
Reed Showalter
Reed Showalter talking on the Discussion board for seventh US Congressional District Democratic Candidates at Harry Caray’s seventh Inning Stretch in Streeterville. Video nonetheless. By Britton Struthers-Lugo, February 26, 2026.
Reed Showalter, one other Chicago native, born and raised in Oak Park, has made a profession preventing company energy each in Chicago and federally on the Federal Commerce Fee as an lawyer. Previous to Trump’s return to workplace, Showalter was a U.S. Justice Division counsel and White Home Nationwide Financial council advisor. He campaigns on affordability, which incorporates housing, healthcare, meals, and can be an advocate for growing taxes on billionaires, breaking apart “Huge Tech” monopolies, supporting immigrants, and fixing local weather change, amongst different points.
Showalter was enthusiastic about his help for immigrants, calling them “America’s superpower.” He agreed with the opposite candidates about complete coverage reform, clearly known as for a pathway to citizenship, and was the one candidate to explicitly name for the dismantling of the U.S. Customs and Border Protections in its entirety.
“[Immigration], it’s the factor that’s made the American economic system thrive. It’s the factor that makes American tradition wealthy. It makes our communities wholesome,” stated Showalter. He continued, criticizing the actions of federal enforcement brokers. “Abolish ICE. Abolish CBP. Prosecute the brokers who’ve been rolling via our streets with unmarked vans and assault weapons.”
Jazmin Robinson
Jazmin Robinson (left) sitting on the Discussion board for seventh US Congressional District Democratic Candidates at Harry Caray’s seventh Inning Stretch in Streeterville. By Britton Struthers-Lugo, February 26, 2026.
Jazmin Robinson, who grew up in each Chicago and Plainfield, Illinois, has over a decade of expertise working in company America as a Human Assets chief. She is certainly one of 4 feminine democratic candidates on the poll, and can be a comic and improviser who has carried out throughout theaters in Chicago. She is working on her coverage, the H.E.A.L. Act, which promotes free common well being care, free training (together with childcare, faculty and commerce colleges), entry to authorities and honest markets, and dwelling wage.
Robinson grounded her immigration stance in constitutional legitimacy.
“Within the Structure, it says you need to impeach the president and vp once they levy battle in opposition to the USA, which they did once they introduced federal troops into our states and killed Individuals. That’s what I need to do.”
Robinson is appropriate in her understanding of impeachment; nevertheless, the Constitution defines “levying war,” as an assemblage of individuals for a treasonable offense, typically interpreted as defying or subverting the U.S. authorities.
Robinson was the one candidate to explicitly state her want to deliver the Articles of Impeachment in opposition to Trump and Vance. She echoed different’s sentiments on abolishing ICE and making a extra honest pathway to citizenship.
“Research present that when immigrants come into our communities, crime lowers; there are extra small companies, as a result of [immigrants] usually tend to be entrepreneurs, which results in financial progress,” stated Robinson.
Kina Collins
Kina Collins talking on the Discussion board for seventh US Congressional District Democratic Candidates at Harry Caray’s seventh Inning Stretch in Streeterville. By Britton Struthers-Lugo, February 26, 2026.
Kina Collins is one other lifelong Chicagoan, who was born and raised on the West Aspect in Austin. Her profession has been in public service and group organizing; in 2017, she based the Chicago Neighborhood Alliance, which goals to “empower residents in violence impacted neighborhoods to construct civic energy and take motion to vary their communities,” and can be a gun violence prevention advocate by occupation.
Collins’ list of top issues for her marketing campaign embody financial growth, dignity for seniors, healthcare protection and fairness, supporting ladies’s reproductive rights, inexpensive housing, reparations, and extra.
Like Robinson, Collins’ was fast to admonish the present administration for its immigration actions, calling for the abolishment of ICE and offering a clearer pathway to citizenship for immigrants.
“I feel that the humanitarian disaster that has occurred round immigration in our nation uncovered the hypocrisy of the leaders in our nation. The Trump administration calls the immigrant group rapists and criminals as Trump actually sits within the White Home. He’s referring to himself,” Collins began. “Illinois 7 ought to function a nationwide mannequin on how we have now humane immigration practices in our nation. And that’s going to be a major focus of our administration once I go to Congress.”
Felix Tello
Felix Tello talking on the Discussion board for seventh US Congressional District Democratic Candidates at Harry Caray’s seventh Inning Stretch in Streeterville. Video nonetheless. By Britton Struthers-Lugo, February 26, 2026.
Felix Tello is an Government Engineer and considers himself an activist and a constitutional scholar. He promotes “accountable and clear illustration,” is dedicated to permit the general public to vote on payments via his app Vote Our Way, and advocates for pushing the twenty eighth Modification, generally called the Equal Rights Modification. His marketing campaign is run on five proposed legislative frameworks, in addition to bolstering democracy and institutional integrity, accessible well being and psychological well being care, inexpensive housing, local weather motion, humanitarian help and more.
Tello started his 90 seconds by letting the viewers know that he’s an immigrant himself, shifting to the U.S. in 1964, and that Spanish was his first language. Whereas he argued that immigration reform is required, he differed on his perception in a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people.
“The problem that we have now with immigration reform is {that a} large a part of the nation believes that immigrants which are right here illegally have minimize in line. And if you concentrate on it, it’s true,” stated Tello.
“After I discuss to them, they’re not searching for citizenship. They only need to be authorized and dwell free, search the American dream and work onerous,” he continued. “We’d like a pathway to inexperienced card, to not citizenship. To residency. And so they must take, they’ve to attend longer for all these those who did wait in line and so they can get their citizenship. I truly considered not even providing them citizenship. They need to, however they’ll be very proud of that. Belief me.”
Rory Hoskins
Rory Hoskins talking on the Discussion board for seventh US Congressional District Democratic Candidates at Harry Caray’s seventh Inning Stretch in Streeterville. Video nonetheless. By Britton Struthers-Lugo, February 26, 2026.
Rory Hoskins is the present mayor of Forest Park, Illinois. He turned the primary Black man to carry that title after his election in 2019, and he was re-elected in 2023. Born in Texas, Hoskins is a long-time advocate for civil rights and cultural heritage. He’s a member of the Illinois State Bar Affiliation and served two phrases as Forest Park Village Commissioner (2007-2015) previous to changing into a mayor.
Hoskins’ platform lays out eight core principles, which embody: bettering transportation, supporting infrastructure and coverage geared toward lowering the consequences of local weather change and air pollution, growing financial mobility, guaranteeing high quality training, inexpensive and accessible healthcare, childcare and foster mother or father help, funding VA hospitals and increasing psychological well being providers, and immigration.
Hoskins started by vocalizing his help for amnesty and completed his assertion affirming his help for abolishing ICE and reforming immigration.
“Individuals who’ve lived and labored on this nation, for years, must be allowed to remain, even when they didn’t come via the formal channels,” stated Hoskins.
“The language that the present president and that the Republicans use to explain people who find themselves undocumented is solely merciless. It lends itself to constitutional abuses – the form of abuses that we’ve been seeing these previous couple of months.”
Anthony Driver Jr.
Anthony Driver Jr. talking on the Discussion board for seventh US Congressional District Democratic Candidates at Harry Caray’s seventh Inning Stretch in Streeterville. Video nonetheless. By Britton Struthers-Lugo, February 26, 2026.
Anthony Driver Jr. is a lifelong Chicago resident, and the chief director of the Service Employees International Union Illinois State Council (SEIU), an influential labor union. On the SEIU, Driver leads legislative and political technique, and initiatives that middle employee’s rights and social justice. Driver was elected as the primary president of the Group Fee for Public Security and Accountability; he now stays a commissioner for the CCSPA.
Driver’s top priorities cowl 16 completely different matters, a few of which embody: inexpensive housing, increasing public well being assets, together with Medicare for All, broaden federal youth employment funding and job/after college alternatives, defending reproductive freedom, and middle staff by elevating the federal minimal wage in Chicago and shield their proper to collective bargaining.
Driver can be robust in his opposition to Donald Trump and what he describes because the “MAGA Agenda,” which he made clear when talking about immigration on the discussion board:
“You will have a president who’s actually promoting gold playing cards for citizenship. He’s telling us to our face that in case you have cash, then I’ll grant you a pathway to citizenship. That’s disgusting.”
The Trump Gold Card, to which Driver refers, would grant homeowners citizenship after a $1 million contribution and a $15,000 processing payment, which incorporates “further small charges to the U.S. The Division of State [that] might apply relying on the applicant.” A Trump Platinum card is quickly to launch, which provides a pathway to citizenship following a $5 million contribution.
Driver continued by verbalizing his help for complete immigration reform.
“I additionally suppose we have to go a step additional. The Supreme Courtroom has lately legalized racial discrimination,” stated Hoskins. “Now we have to broaden the courtroom. And I do know which will sound like a radical thought to some, however when you concentrate on the truth that this president and this MAGA Republican Get together has rigged the courts, we can not enable this to occur for an additional 30-40 years. Now we have to unrig the system and utterly rebuild it, as a result of this president and his goons are doing every little thing they will to tear it down.”
Anabel Mendoza
Anabel Mendoza talking on the Discussion board for seventh US Congressional District Democratic Candidates at Harry Caray’s seventh Inning Stretch in Streeterville. Video nonetheless. By Britton Struthers-Lugo, February 26, 2026.
Anabel Mendoza is a lifelong Chicagoan who was raised in West Garden, and a graduate of Northwestern College’s Medill Faculty of Journalism, Class of 2020. At 28-years-old, Mendoza is the youngest candidate working for congress on the poll. As a daughter and granddaughter of immigrants, she has devoted her profession to preventing for immigrant rights working throughout numerous advocacy-based organizations; she is at the moment the Director of Communications at United We Dream.
Her marketing campaign consists of three main pillars, that are affordability, justice, and public well being and security. Every of her fourteen campaign priorities are rooted in these pillars, a few of which embody livable wages and monetary stability, investing in youth and strengthening colleges, preventing for reproductive justice, and supporting incapacity rights points.
One in every of three Latine candidates, Mendoza started her assertion by reproaching Felix Tello’s immigration stance.
“I do know Felix talked about he’s Latino and speaks for all Latinos. I’m a Latina, he doesn’t converse for me.”
This was met by diversified applause, and Mendoza went on to affirm her help for a pathway to citizenship, abolishing ICE and prosecuting ICE brokers.
“I’m the one candidate on this stage tonight who has spent her complete profession doing that work,” Mendoza continued. She then known as consideration to the growing deportations of DACA recipients.
“I work with DACA recipients each single day. I sit down with them as they make plans for who’s going to care for their kids if they’re wrongfully deported. We have to shield due course of. We have to hold households collectively. We have to battle again in opposition to this Trump administration that’s delegitimizing applications like DACA and TPS, and be sure that those that have non permanent standing, and those that are undocumented, have a path to full citizenship on this nation,” she completed.
Jason Friedman
Jason Friedman talking on the Discussion board for seventh US Congressional District Democratic Candidates at Harry Caray’s seventh Inning Stretch in Streeterville. By Britton Struthers-Lugo, February 26, 2026.
Jason Friedman is an proprietor and former president of Friedman Properties, an actual property agency positioned in River North. He has a monitor file of working in public service for the Democratic celebration, which incorporates working beneath Rahm Emanuel throughout former President Invoice Clinton’s administration, and dealing on the Senate Judiciary Committee beneath Senator Dick Durbin. Friedman additionally has deep roots in Chicago, being a fourth-generation resident within the metropolis.
Friedman’s agenda for his campaign consists of priorities like reducing prices for households, offering inexpensive, good high quality training for college students, combating gun violence and investing in group violence intervention applications, and banning “Trump’s ICE.”
He started his assertion denouncing the violence of federal enforcement brokers beneath President Trump’s management, and expressed his curiosity in defunding ICE.
“Now we have created the fifteenth largest standing military on this planet,” stated Friedman, “Outrageous. We’re spending $150 billion a 12 months having the Proud Boys being armed with assault rifles, working round our nation, locking folks up, unconstitutionally.”
Based on the Brennan Center for Justice and CBS News, the latest One Huge Stunning Invoice Act greater than tripled ICE’s annual price range, with Congress setting apart roughly $170 billion for immigration and border management efforts.
Friedman then added to the refrain of candidates who known as for abolishing ICE and reforming the present immigration system.
“As your congressman, I’d not authorize another greenback for ICE until there may be accountability and justice. That is outrageous, it’s un-American.”
Dr. Thomas Fisher
Dr. Thomas Fisher talking on the Discussion board for seventh US Congressional District Democratic Candidates at Harry Caray’s seventh Inning Stretch in Streeterville. By Britton Struthers-Lugo, February 26, 2026.
Dr. Thomas Fisher is an emergency doctor on the College of Chicago Medical Heart, a South Aspect facility in the identical group the place he was raised. His coverage background consists of being chosen as a White Home Fellow beneath HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in 2010, through the rollout of the Reasonably priced Care Act.
As a doctor, certainly one of Fisher’s top priorities is common healthcare. He additionally argues for growing group security, responding to the local weather disaster and supporting environmental justice, elevating wages and strengthening unions, decrease the price of dwelling, offering free and equitable training, and complete immigration reform.
Fisher was the final to obtain the microphone, and agreed with the opposite candidates who known as for defunding and abolishing ICE and prosecuting its brokers. He criticized the divisive language weaponized by the present administration.
“They’re creating this ‘us’ versus ‘them’ dynamic that’s far too previous and much too snug on this nation. Till we step ahead to a brand new actuality the place there isn’t a ‘them’, there may be solely ‘us,’ and we need to shield each other in these moments, we’ll by no means get to the form of society that prospers that we’re all searching for,” stated Fisher.
Fisher completed by calling for a pathway to citizenship, “together with amnesty,” and emphasizing the need of immigrants for the American economic system and labor market.
“25% of medical doctors on this nation are immigrants. We’d like them. If you wish to get a deal with on our prices of dwelling, 40% of people who find themselves in development are immigrants. We’d like them,” stated Fisher.
Figures from the “Census of Licensed Physicians in the United States, 2024,” which was printed August 2025, revealed that worldwide medical graduates account for 23% of the U.S. medical workforce. IMGs are physicians who apply in a special nation than the place they graduated medical college from; although this doesn’t straight mirror medical professionals who’re immigrants within the U.S., the census does draw consideration to the latest adjustments to visa insurance policies and immigration guidelines which “have launched new complexities which will have an effect on IMG’s capability to enter or stay in the USA for medical training, residency coaching, and long-term employment.”
Based on the National Associate of Home Builders most recent census, which was printed in 2023, immigrants make up roughly 25% of staff within the development business; nevertheless, this determine varies considerably relying on the precise development commerce. The trades most reliant on immigrant staff mirror percentages between 30% – 61% of immigrants of their workforce.
Melissa Conyears-Ervin
Headshot of Melissa Conyears-Ervin. Offered by Group Conyears-Ervin March 12, 2026.
Melissa Conyears-Ervin at the moment serves because the Metropolis Treasurer of Chicago, and is a lifelong Chicago resident. In her position, the place she is now finishing her second time period, Conyears-Ervin is a “banker, investor, and custodian of public funds for the Metropolis of Chicago and the 4 Metropolis of Chicago worker pension funds.” Previous to working as treasurer, she was a businesswoman at Allstate for practically twenty years.
Conyears-Ervin runs a platform on constructing sustainable wealth, reducing prices and supporting fairer wages, supporting well being care as a common proper, pushing for increased taxes on the rich and decrease taxes on the center class, improve public security, shield abortion rights, help high quality and inexpensive training, and help the considerate use and growth of AI within the U.S.
Although she was not current on the February 26 discussion board, Conyears-Ervin has beforehand condemned ICE exercise in Chicago. In a November budget hearing, Conyears-Ervin introduced that the town will pull investments within the U.S. Treasury securities as an act of protest to the aggression of Operation Halfway Blitz, and the Trump Administration’s “authoritarian regime.”
There are two Republican candidates on the poll for District 7 Congressional Consultant, Chad Koppie and Patricia “P Rae” Easley, who weren’t current on the discussion board. To see their marketing campaign insurance policies and immigration views, click here.
Election day is Tuesday, March 17, and early voting is now open for all Chicagoans. Similar-day registration is on the market in any respect early voting websites, and if you’re registering in-person, you will have two forms of ID. Click here to seek out out the place you may vote early and between what hours. As well as, you may apply to vote by mail now via Thursday, March 12, 5:00 P.M. For all different voting info for Metropolis of Chicago residents, please see here.
Cowl Photograph: Richard Boykin talking on the Discussion board for seventh US Congressional District Democratic Candidates at Harry Caray’s seventh Inning Stretch in Streeterville. By Britton Struthers-Lugo, February 26, 2026.
Editor’s Notes: This story is made doable via help from the Therapeutic Illinois Reporting Undertaking, Democracy Lives Right here, a statewide initiative led by the Medill Solutions Journalism Hub and funded by the Field Foundation of Illinois. Illinois Latino Information is among the many newsrooms chosen to take part on this effort, which brings collectively journalists dedicated to strengthening civic life by reporting on group‑pushed responses to systemic inequities and deepening public understanding of how democracy is lived on the native degree.
