Even as they debated hot topics like foreign policy, data centers and the national debt, Illinois 9th Congressional district candidates Daniel Biss and John Elleson managed to keep the tone of the Sept. 24 event at the Skokie Public Library more cordial than others of recent memory.
About 100 people, including many students from Niles Township High School District 219, attended the League of Women Voters of Evanston event.
Immigration policy emerged as perhaps the most pressing topic of the night, with both Democratic candidate and Evanston Mayor Biss and Republican and Arlington Heights Pastor Elleson calling for more accountability for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
“This is one of the most emotional subjects for our community after the hell that we’ve seen over the course of the last year,” Biss said, referencing Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s federal immigration crackdown in Chicago and its neighboring suburbs last fall.
“Masked thugs purporting to work for us, marching down the street abducting people because of the color of their skin…It’s obscene. It makes a mockery of the core principles of what this country claims to be about. So we need to abolish ICE.”
Biss’ call to terminate the federal agency comes just days after ICE agents detained and injured an Evanston resident and U.S. citizen they initially believed to be a fugitive they were searching for.
The citizen, who suffered injuries to his “head, neck and teeth” as a result of the encounter, according to Evanston police, was left lying on Howard Street. Responders took him to a local hospital.
“There’s no saving this organization. There’s no pretending that a militarized force that’s supposed to be an immigration force interior to our country has any place in our society,” Biss added.
While Elleson said he wasn’t in favor of the former Biden administration’s policies on immigration enforcement, he noted that an uptick in undocumented residents living in the U.S. during that time supported his own community.
“We have a lot of undocumented people in our church, and I like it. I don’t turn them in. I write letters. I try to give them a stay, but that’s the pastor side,” Elleson said.
“If they’re breaking the law, they shouldn’t be here…it’s hard for me because I’m for everybody, I love everybody. But with that being said, what the laws are, we have to follow [them].”
Elleson later told Pioneer Press after the debate that what occurred during the Sept. 20 ICE incident in Evanston was “not right, of course,” but that ICE has an important role in protecting citizens.
“I think we have to work with ICE,” Elleson said. “They’re trying to do a job, just like a police officer. But you know, they have to be careful. They can’t do stupid things,” adding that “police officers make mistakes everyday.”
Regarding foreign policy issues, Biss said the country has gone off the rails in its military stance and involvement in foreign conflicts.
“Our foreign policy should be peace first, justice first, building up communities and alliances first. It should be anti-war unless absolutely necessary,” he added.
“Donald Trump has attacked Iran recklessly, dishonestly, illegally… and unfortunately for several years before that, we saw the U.S. write blank check after blank check to the Israeli government to facilitate the effectuation of unbelievable humanitarian crimes in Gaza.”
“No one likes war,” Elleson said in response to the question posed about Congress’ role in guiding military intervention and diplomacy.
“I think, though, that it was necessary for us to go into Iran,” he said, adding that he is a “strong Israel supporter.”
Elleson went on to defend Trump’s use of sanctions against Iran and Russia.
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“We need to go all the way. I don’t carry the water for this administration, by no means, but [the president] needs to apply those sanctions.”
Other debate topics included the hot issue of data centers, with Biss and Elleson sparring over whether the country should support or restrict these centralized facilities that house mass computer systems.
“I understand that there are going to be continued needs for more data centers over time, perhaps, and that if that can be done in a way with appropriate guardrails, with appropriate safety on the AI side…there may be appropriate ways to do that,” Biss said.
“In the meantime, we’re seeing something run rampant out of control now, and that’s why I support a moratorium.”
“China is building data centers,” Elleson rebutted. “We either are going to do it, or we’re falling behind. You have to do it wisely.”
Elleson added that there should be protections around where data centers are constructed and how electricity is supplied to them, specifically if they are located in resident-dense areas, but that it would generate significant revenue for cities faced with a high debt burden.
“I think Evanston could use some of the money,” Elleson cheekily remarked.
Both candidates touched on the U.S. national debt level reaching $40 trillion last month, with Elleson in particular arguing that if the country continues to outspend its means, larger problems are on the horizon.
Biss pointed to the war in Iran and tariffs as the primary drivers of rising costs and that the national affordability crisis is closely tied with a lack of available housing.
“Unless you have enough housing, the cost of housing is going to go up and up and up,” he added, referencing the ongoing efforts Evanston has made to adopt comprehensive housing strategies like its Housing4All plan in May.
Voters in the 9th Congressional District —which encompasses sections of Cook, Lake and McHenry County and includes all or parts of the northern Chicago suburbs of Evanston, Skokie, Glenview, Morton Grove, Niles, Wilmette, Glenview, Prospect Heights, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Hawthorn Woods, the Barrington area, Algonquin, Crystal Lake and others— can expect to see Biss and Elleson on their upcoming election ballots.
Early statewide voting for the Nov. 3 midterm election began Sept. 24. Voters in suburban Cook County can cast their ballots beginning Oct. 7.
Biss is expected to officially resign as Evanston’s mayor Oct. 18, in time to trigger a special mayoral election to fill the remainder of his seat, ending in 2029.
According to Evanston’s election calendar, that race will take place April 6, 2027.