Two Democrats campaigning for U.S. Senate on their opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement have collected donations from ICE contractors and lobbyists.
Congresswoman Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, took in $2,500 in November from a corporate PAC for Axon, an Arizona-based company equipping ICE agents with body cameras and tasers, as well as $1,500 from a pair of lobbyists for Palantir, which runs data surveillance for ICE, The Detroit News reported.
“A fantastic evening at our home bringing together friends, colleagues, and clients to support Rep. Haley Stevens in her campaign for U.S. Senate,” lobbyist David Reid, an outside lobbyist for Palantir and deputy finance chair for the Democratic National Committee, posted to LinkedIn earlier this month.
“Haley is a proven fighter who knows how to bring people together to get things done – and she’ll make one heck of a Senator,” read the post, which featured a picture of Reid presenting Stevens with her favorite snickerdoodle cookies.
Stevens has voted against appropriations for ICE, and demanded investigations into illegal immigrants who have died in the agency’s custody.
In a recent press release, the Democrat argued Congress “still must address the chaos and lawlessness Donald Trump’s ICE has unleashed across the country.”
Spokesman Arik Wolk told The News in a statement Stevens “is leading the fight to overhaul ICE and voted against giving them another cent without serious reforms, including real accountability for ICE agents who commit crimes and abuse their power, requiring ICE agents to wear proper ID and prohibit masks that hide who they are, and stripping ICE of the $75 billion slush fund Trump gave them.”
Wolk told The News Stevens plans to keep her campaign contributions from ICE contractors and lobbyists.
Stevens is running to replace Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Twp., in a contentious three-way Democratic primary with former Wayne County health official Abdul El-Sayed, and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak.
McMorrow, who has repeatedly bemoaned Trump’s “secret police force” and protested against the agency, also collected a combined $4,750 from a business development employee and a lobbyist for Palantir last year, though she claims to have returned the money on March 1, according to The News.
El-Sayed, who is campaigning to abolish ICE, has not reported any donations from ICE contractors, or executives or lobbyists for companies working with the federal agency.
Former Congressman Mike Rogers, a supporter of ICE endorsed by the 47th POTUS, has collected $5,300 in donations from Palantir founder Joe Lonsdale, as well as $22,000 from private prison company CoreCivic’s PAC and CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger, The News reported.
“Michiganders deserve leaders who work for them,” El-Sayed told the news site, “not ICE contractors.”
Campaign finance reports through the end of 2025 filed last month show Stevens leading the race in money raised at $2.11 million, followed by Rogers at $1.96 million, El-Sayed at $1.77 million, and McMorrow raising $1.74 million, Michigan Advance reported.
Rogers reported the most cash on hand at $3.45 million, while Stevens reported $3.05 million, El-Sayed reported $1.97 million, and McMorrow reported $1.24 million. A pro-Rogers PAC also has $5.97 million cash on hand to support the Republican.
A Real Clear Polling average of surveys on the U.S. Senate race since October show McMorrow with a narrow 0.4 percentage point lead in the Democratic primary.
A January 14 poll from The Detroit News showed more participants favored Rogers than any of the three leading Democratic candidates.
A survey of 600 voters found that 44.1% favored Rogers, with Stevens receiving the second-highest polling numbers at 43.7%.
The poll found that Rogers had a 3.3% margin over McMorrow and a 6.4% margin over El-Sayed.
