I just reviewed how the political battle in Cook County intensified days before the Illinois primaries, and the truth is that the immigration and ICE issue became the hottest point of the debate.

Basically, Toni Preckwinkle, the County Board President, was seeking her fifth term against Brendan Reilly, a councilor for District 42 in downtown Chicago. What’s interesting is that as the March 17 Democratic primaries approached, attacks between the candidates became increasingly direct and personal.

What caught my attention most was how immigration policy management and the relationship with ICE ended up being the central focus of this electoral contest. Preckwinkle strongly questioned Reilly for allegedly not taking a clear stance when governors and mayors were legally fighting against Operation: Midway Surge, that ICE operation that hit hard in the Chicago area.

The president was quite direct in her criticisms, mentioning that Reilly had historical ties to Trump and that he didn’t speak out when she and other leaders were fighting in court. They even ran ads reminding voters that Reilly had worked on projects related to Trump, such as helping to put his name on that skyscraper in his district.

But here’s the ironic part: Reilly responded by saying that he did oppose Trump, that he even participated in public protests like the one in Grant Park. However, he made his own accusation against Preckwinkle, arguing that she renewed a contract with a tech company that provides data to ICE, which contradicts the county’s public stance on limiting collaboration with federal immigration authorities.

According to Reilly, that renewal would allow ICE to access information that could be used to identify and detain migrants, which definitely sounds contradictory if they truly want to oppose aggressive immigration policies.

What I found notable was that early voting participation was quite high, around 30%, well above the typical 20% in midterm primaries. That shows how much Chicago voters cared about this particular contest.

This primary battle made it clear that local politics in Cook County are more polarized than ever when it comes to immigration issues, and both candidates tried to position themselves as the true advocates for migrants while accusing each other of betrayal.