Kat Abughazaleh is taking on ICE--and running for Congress

The 26-year-old candidate sat down virtually with Daily Kos on Thursday. Abughazaleh spoke from a room plastered with campaign posters and one Smokey Bear graphic that reads, “Remember, only you can prevent fascism.”

Shortly before Daily Kos’ interview, Abughazaleh stood with protesters at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois. Residents have clashed with agents outside the facility, with members of the press and peaceful protesters dodging pepper balls and being manhandled.

Despite being carried and thrown to the ground by a masked ICE agent in September—an assault which, according to Abughazaleh, happened three separate times—she was still showing up to peacefully protest.

The disturbing video of Abughazaleh’s assault ultimately went viral, but she told Daily Kos that accruing views was never the main goal.

“I am not going to these protests to go viral,” she said.

“I'm going because what is happening at the Broadview ICE facility is atrocious. It is a processing facility. People are not supposed to be held there for more than 12 hours at a time, but they're being held for days or weeks at a time, without beds, without hot meals, without access to hygienic facilities,” she continued.

Abughazaleh has amassed supporters over the years because of her fearless approach to politics. Prior to her run for Congress, she worked for watchdog group Media Matters for America. And the journalist-turned-politician, like many young people in the U.S., believes that both legacy media and older elected officials are using an “old playbook.”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/10/4/2346669/-Kat-Abughazaleh-is-taking-on-ICE-and-running-for-Congress?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main