Transcript of Breaking: Effort to Abolish ICE Surges As Americans Turn on Trump

We have some significant news right now. The effort to abolish ICE is growing faster than I think we've ever seen before. I don't overstick this because right now public opinion of ICE is tanking to the point where more and more politicians have come out in favor of abolishing the agency in full or abolishing the agency as we currently know it under the Trump administration. What really feels like an inflection point right now in American history, Americans on this left, center, and the right are all coming out in unison saying that what we're seeing on the streets today is simply unacceptable. It's growing. This sentiment is growing fast. Now, I want to jump right into it. Make sure to like, comment, share, and subscribe. Get this everywhere because I think people need to know about it. And please consider supporting my work by subscribing to my sub stack. Click the link below. Voters now think increased ICE spending is a mostly bad use of taxpayer money. Just 22% of voters definitely think it's a good use of taxpayer money, 21% think it's probably a good use, 55% either think it's probably a bad use or definitely a bad use of taxpayer dollars.

Now, among Democrats, it's overwhelmingly bad. But look at that independent number. 62% of independents believe that it is a bad use of taxpayer money to spend money on ICE. Just 35% believe that it's good use. Among Republicans, you may think this 80/17 number in favor of good news or good use is a very, very daunting number, a very good number for ICE. It's not. Because if Donald Trump won only 80% of Republicans, Kamala Harris to be President today. Voters are actively becoming more unfavorable of ICE in Trump's second term. Just look at this. At the beginning of Trump's second term, favorability for ICE was at or above 50%. Unfavorability was well below 40%. There was a 15, 16 point delta. That has since shifted. Unfavorability for ICE is over 50% now. Favorability has fallen below 45%, and based on trend lines, that's only going to continue. This gap that we're seeing is only going to grow. You may ask yourselves, Well, why? Well, it's because we see ICE picking up five-year-olds and detaining them in Minneapolis. The latest, I want to show you this video from Maine where a legal advocate was filming ICE enforcement when an ICE agent came up and said, You're now in a database.

It's not illegal to record.

Exactly. Yeah.

That's what we're doing. Yeah.

Why are you taking my information down? Because we have a nice little database. Oh, good. Now you're considered a domestic terrorist. We're videotaping you?

Are you crazy?

What you got there?

That's an ICE agent saying, Now you're in our database simply for videotaping us. You're now a domestic terrorist simply for videotaping us. Pretty stunning. This afternoon, I spoke with the Senate candidate, Giuliana Stratton, who is currently the Lieutenant Governor in Illinois. She's running for Senate in Illinois because there's an open Senate seat after Dick Durban retired. She said point blank to me, I'm going to abolish ICE when I get to the Senate. If you told me that would be coming out of the mouth of a leading Senate candidate, just last year, I would have said you were crazy, truthfully, because abolishing ICE was never a popular position, but it seems to be one now. Before I get into the interview, make sure to like, comment, share, and subscribe. Subscribe to my sub stack. Here is Lieutenant Governor Julianna Stratton. Super excited today to be joined by Illinois Lieutenant Governor Julianna Stratton, who's also running for United States Senate. I want to just jump right in, LG, and ask you, a lot of folks are worried in this nation, especially as it relates to what's happening in Minneapolis, the way ICE has been terrorizing communities across the country.

You're no secret to what ICE is doing. You saw it happen firsthand in your backyard in Chicago. Give folks some, I guess, inspiration or just some information, I guess, how should they combat ICE right now in their communities based on what you all did in Illinois?

Yeah, well, we certainly here in Illinois have gone through and continue to see the real just terror that's taking place all across this country, what's happening in Minneapolis right now. We had Operation Midway here in Illinois. I think, number one, first and foremost, Governor Pritzker and I and every level of government, we all stood together and made it very clear from the very beginning that we don't want Trump's ICE here in the state of Illinois or in the city of Chicago, that we would not bow down to a want to be dictator. We made it very clear that we would do everything we could to stand up for our neighbors. We know that what they are doing is inhumane. I mean, it's unconstitutional. Just look at what happened just this week. We saw a five-year-old boy get detained and kidnapped by ICE. We see totally overlooking the Constitution, stomping on the rule of law, It's wrong. It's dangerous. We've seen people get killed by ICE, United States citizens. We have to speak up. I always say this is not about the rise of authoritarianism. We are staring authoritarian libertarianism in its face. Donald Trump wants to normalize the presence of the military on American soil, and we have to speak up, every single one of us.

This is our time. So I've been doing that. I've been out in community. I've been at the protest. I've been at the Broadview Detention Center speaking out. I've been making sure, working with organizations, that we help students get home from school and have safe passage. We're making sure in Illinois that people know their rights But I think the main thing that when you talk about inspiration, and it's not a time that really feels very inspirational, but one thing that I have seen that I am inspired by is the number of people who have come out and said, not on our watch, everyday people who are saying, I'm going to step up, get out of my home, get out of the comfort zone, and hit the streets, and make sure we protect our neighbors. That's what everybody must do, and that's what's required in this moment.

I think one criticism that Democratic leaders specifically get in this moment is people say, You know what? You guys aren't doing enough. We feel as though there's not enough happening to push back on what's happening in this administration. I got to ask you from a state-level perspective, what can an LG or a governor do in this moment? Because I think there are limitations that people just don't realize exist.

Yeah, there are some limitations, but that doesn't mean we should just sit on the sidelines and say, There's nothing I can do. In addition to getting up and speaking out and holding people accountable, I mean, Governor Pritzker or just sign some legislation to make sure that here in Illinois, we will not see ICE enforcement in places like schools and hospitals and courthouses where we had seen some ICE activity here in Illinois, places where people should know they should be able to go and be safe. You might recall that there was a daycare worker who was pulled out of the daycare center in front of children. These are long-term generational acts of trauma that are being inflicted upon all of us right now by this rogue agency that really has been set up to be Donald Trump's private police force. To me, we need to abolish ICE. That's something that I'm going to work on at the federal level. I'm running for United States Senate, and that is one of the things that I certainly believe needs to happen. I don't believe that this agency can be reformed, and it's not operating as enforcement or law enforcement.

It is operating as an organization that is We're literally just trying to terrorize our communities. On the state level, in addition to the legislation to make sure some of these more sensitive sites, we cannot see ICE enforcement or activation, we also have the Illinois Accountability Commission, where we are making sure that we are capturing images and videos and stories and narratives from people who are experiencing this terror. Because the bottom line is this, Donald Trump is not always going to be President. One day, We will hold him accountable. We will hold his administration accountable, and we will make sure that everyone who has had a part of this terror, these acts of terror, will be held accountable. We're gathering the information and making sure people do that right now to preserve that evidence and testimony, because one day we're going to make sure accountability happens.

Now, you mentioned you're running for Senate. I just got to ask you, why would you want to do that? Why are you running for Senate?

Well, look at what's happening. I mean, Donald Trump has ignited a five alarm fire, and I'm proud of the work that we've done in Illinois. In fact, I believe that Illinois, in so many ways, this island or oasis in the Midwest has the blueprint of the leadership that is needed. Right now, when I go around the state and ask people what they're looking for, they say a couple of things. One, they're so proud to live in a state like Illinois. But number two, they're looking for someone who will go to the Met fighting for them. I started running for office 10 years ago, not because I thought it was the easy thing to do. In fact, I ran because our previous governor was trying to strip away health care. So I ran against a 13-year incumbent, my state rep, and beat him to fight for health care. Here we are 10 years later, and it's not just health care. We're seeing attacks on the rule of law, attacks on our Constitution, our rights, our neighbors. I know that this is a time when we need new energy, new voices, and new perspectives in Washington, and that's what I'm going to bring.

Do I think it's easy? No. We have to hold this administration accountable. We're supposed to have these separate and co-equal independent branches of government to put a check on this president, and we don't always see that. I'm going to be one of the ones that's going to provide that check.

Now, I got to ask you, before you get to a general election, before you get to the Senate, you have a primary. This primary, it's creeping up on us. It's in, I think, what, less than 50 days, almost, or in about two months or so. Why are you the best Democrat to represent Illinois?

Well, I'm the best Democrat to represent Illinois because I am going to give the people what they want. That's what this campaign is all about, making sure that I will stand up and fight against what we're seeing coming out of Washington, DC, and using the blueprint of what I've been doing over the last 10 years to do so. We have gotten big things done in Illinois. We have raised the minimum wage. We have passed common sense gun legislation, including assault weapons ban. We've created thousands of jobs. We have expanded access to health care, including protecting reproductive freedom. That is something that I have been a part of as a partner in governance to Governor J. B. Pritzker, and that's the leadership that I will bring to Washington, DC. As I just said, people are tired of the status quo and they're looking for new energy to meet this moment, and they don't feel like they see it, at least in the voters that I'm talking to in every corner of the state. They feel like there's too much of a go-along-to-get-along mentality. I'm going against very well-resourced opponent in Congressman Roger Krishnamurthy, who for the last 10 years has been spending all of his time raising money so that he could run for Senate.

Well, for the last 10 years, what I've been doing is working for the people of Illinois and delivering for the people of Illinois, not just as a partner in what we've done as an administration, but my own leadership, leading the birth equity initiative to address the black women's maternal mortality crisis, leading on rural affairs to make sure that my Ag Connect us All initiative. It moves from a rural urban divide to a rural urban bridge to create more opportunities to expand access to healthy, nutrient-dense food. My work as chair of the Illinois Council on Women and girls and creating pathways to make Illinois the best state in the nation for women and girls. And so much more that I have personally taken leadership on. I've been getting things done and delivering, and that's what people are looking for. They're tired of talking points. They want action, and that's what I will provide.

Lieutenant Governor Stratton, thanks so much for joining me, and good luck.

Thanks so much for having me.

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