House candidate Geldermann on ICE at polls debate: 'Democrats don't want ICE enforcing deportation orders'

Mar 18, 2026 By North Cook News

Jim Geldermann, Republican candidate for Illinois House of Representatives District 17, said the push by Democrats to block federal immigration enforcement near polling locations points to deeper concerns about election integrity and the role of illegal immigrants in the electoral process.

"Why are Democrats positioning illegal immigrants with deportation orders at polling places?" Geldermann told North Cook News. "What role have they been assigned. In Cook County, the Republican Party has a difficult time getting all the polling places staffed with judges assigned by the Republican Party. Is the Cook County Clerk assigning illegal immigrants as Republican election judges? Are the F*ICE candidates hiring illegal immigrants to hand out voting guides? Just some possible reasons that Democrats don't want ICE to enforce deportation orders."

A number of Democrat-controlled states have been moving forward with bills aimed at restricting or prohibiting federal immigration agents from operating near polling locations, pointing to concerns over federal overreach in the electoral process. Federal law already places limits on armed personnel at voting sites, and the Department of Homeland Security has said it has no intention of sending ICE to the polls, according to Stateline.

When questioned before Congress, ICE and Border Patrol leaders replied, "No, sir," and DHS election integrity official Heather Honey stated, "It is simply not true" that agents would be stationed at the polls.

As the March 17 primary approached, DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek issued a video warning that ICE would not be permitted to interfere with DuPage County elections in any way.

“In DuPage County, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will not be allowed to interfere with DuPage County elections in any way,” said Kaczmarek.

She followed with a press release declaring "ICE, go away. Do not even try. You will fail," dismissing as a myth the notion that non-citizens cast ballots on Election Day.

Kaczmarek also established a hotline for residents to report ICE sightings and noted the county permits voters to cast ballots at any of its 248 polling locations through its "Vote Anywhere" system.

Geldermann said the Democratic resistance to federal intervention at the polls ignores a long history of federal troops being deployed to protect voting rights when Democrats blocked access to the ballot.

"The Democrats have a history of denying voting rights to citizens, and Federal troops have been deployed on many instances in areas where Democrats controlled access to voting," he said. "From 1863-1877, Federal troops were deployed in the South to protect the rights of newly freed Black men to register and vote. Whenever Democrats were denying citizens fair and free elections, either by denying citizens the vote, letting people who do not have a right to vote have their vote counted, voting against the 15th and 19th amendments and filibustering the the 1965 voting rights act, Federal intervention, both legal and deploying troops, was need to insure that only citizens' votes where able to vote."

In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson backed a proposal to establish "Democracy Zones" prohibiting immigration enforcement within 100 feet of polling sites. Opponents, including 15th Ward Alderman Ray Lopez, said the effort was one that "seeks an answer to a problem that doesn't exist" and raised potential First Amendment concerns. 

“As much as the extreme Democratic Left and Socialists decried President Trump's election loss conspiracies, they have proven no better,” Lopez told Chicago City Wire. “Actually, the Democratic logic is worse as it appears to build on the allegations of non-citizens participating in our American electoral process and needing protection from deportation.”

Social media critics questioned the logic of the push.

“If illegals are not voting, then why would anyone care if ICE is near a polling place?” Libs of TikTok said on X. 

Geldermann said Democratic campaign messaging in northern Cook County reflects the same priorities driving the ICE controversy.

"Look at the Democrats' ads in Northern Cook," he said. "Every Democrat, who is campaigning in their race, ads have F*ICE and promote the idea that criminal illegal aliens have greater rights than their constituents."

Geldermann said the more pressing issue is Democratic resistance to cleaning up the voter rolls.

"What is more concerning is the Democrats' resistance to validating the voter rolls," he said. "The True the Vote people have determined that close to 10% of the registered voters are invalid. They have either moved and registered at their new address (in and out of state), or have moved to a cemetery."

Former GOP committeeman Terry Newsome pointed out a registration problem in DuPage County that nearly kept him from casting a ballot, after all five members of his household had their last names entered incorrectly in the voter database as "Updatesome" instead of Newsome.

Kaczmarek's office has drawn criticism beyond her ICE warnings. Former state representative Jeanne Ives called her "completely incompetent," while election integrity advocate Carol Davis said Kaczmarek is "throwing red meat to the Democrat base because she is in jeopardy of losing her seat as county clerk."

In 2025, the DuPage County Board censured Kaczmarek's office over financial mismanagement, including delayed vendor payments, a budget shortfall, and a 40% increase in staff salaries over five years. 

The Illinois Attorney General's Office has launched a criminal investigation into her office over allegations that include roughly $229,000 in no-bid contracts and improper handling of election-related funds.

Kaczmarek was defeated in the March 17 Democratic primary by Paula Deacon Garcia, who received 54,761 votes compared to Kaczmarek's 42,670, based on unofficial results with all precincts reporting. 

Garcia will advance to the November general election against Republican Patricia Kladis-Schiappa, who ran unopposed in the GOP primary.

Geldermann said a recent Supreme Court ruling and patterns in northern Cook County highlight how deeply the system has been manipulated.

"The fact that we needed a Supreme Court ruling to say that a candidate has standing to sue election administrators tells us how the Democrats have used the law in a corrupt way to deny the vote to the citizens of Illinois," he said. "In Northern Cook County, voters lament that their vote doesn't count. We have Republican voters crossing over in this primary to pull a Democrat primary to vote for the least objectionable Democrat in the Congressional 9 primary. We've been messaging that the Republican governor primary is the most important race, and we need a good turnout to kick off the November campaign."

Geldermann added that he welcomes further discussion on related policy concerns.

"I would be happy to discuss the grift of our sanctuary policies," he said. "Feel free to call for more detailed comments."

Geldermann, a Republican, is challenging fourth-term incumbent Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview) for the Illinois House of Representatives in District 17 in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election.