Immigration Critical in Illinois Elections

The banners at the meeting read “Somos America,” or “We are America.” Mexican and Asian immigrants there invoked the dignity of all immigrants, whether legal or not, and declared the current system for entering this country “broken.”

Outside, a small group of U.S. citizens held signs of their own: “Wake up and smell the invasion,” and “Honk if you want the borders secured.” This showdown took place Oct. 22–not in El Paso, Texas, or Tucson, Ariz., but in the western suburb of Carol Stream. Nearly 1,500 miles from the Rio Grande, border security and undocumented immigration have emerged as defining issues in two bitterly contested congressional races in the Chicago suburbs.

Consider: A recent Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll found that undocumented immigration is the top concern for Republicans in the 6th and 8th Congressional Districts, a swath of suburbia that ranges from DuPage to Lake County. Click here.

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