Illinois Senate 26th candidates divided on immigration enforcement, data centers

The race for the Illinois Senate’s 26th District seat matches incumbent Republican Sen. Darby Hills against Democratic challenger Nabeela Syed, the representative for the state House’s 51st District.

The candidates have different approaches on two hot-button issues: immigration enforcement and data centers.

Immigration enforcement

Hills, a former Barrington Hills village trustee who was appointed to the state Senate in February 2025, says local police should not be turned into immigration agents.

But she said she also believes Illinois’ TRUST Act goes too far in preventing local authorities from honoring federal immigration detainers, even for someone charged with or convicted of a violent felony.

Under the TRUST Act, local police can only hold someone on an immigration detainer if there is a federal criminal warrant signed by a judge.

Hills said she would support a narrow change allowing local law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities when someone has been charged with or convicted of a violent or serious felony.

Syed, of Inverness, supports the state’s immigration protections.

“In Wauconda, I have heard from families afraid to leave their homes because of ICE raids, parents skipping work, and kids missing school,” she wrote in her response to a Daily Herald questionnaire.

Syed said state policies, including the TRUST Act, have made it clear it is not the task of local or state police to enforce federal civil immigration law.

It is ultimately Congress’ job to pass comprehensive immigration reform, Syed said.

Data centers

In June, Gov. JB Pritzker announced a pause on processing new data center tax incentives and proposed a seven-point framework that included a call for centers to pay their fair share of electrical grid and water costs.

Syed said the framework is responsive to resident concerns, adding the governor’s pause came days after she and other legislators signed a letter urging the state to end the incentive.

During a September legislative breakfast in Barrington, Syed noted that incentives for data centers once had bipartisan support.

She supports the POWER Act, which, if passed, would address issues such as water use and create a fund to support programs like the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

Hills called the governor’s pause a reasonable timeout but said it is not a policy.

“The state handed out hundreds of millions in tax breaks without asking what data centers would cost ratepayers,” she wrote in her response to a Daily Herald questionnaire.

Hills has called for a moratorium of at least one year on new data centers and supports legislation that would put limitations on such projects. She has sponsored or co-sponsored a number of related bills, including Senate Bill 1050.

Under the measure, a municipality could not approve a data center within three miles of another municipality’s borders without that town’s written consent.

The bill would also strengthen local control and make sure communities have a meaningful voice at the table, Hills said.

The 26th Senate District includes parts or all of Barrington, Barrington Hills, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, Palatine, Schaumburg and South Barrington, as well as parts of southwestern Lake and southeastern McHenry counties.

szalusky@dailyherald.com