Lauren Underwood

More than 100 people who had gathered inside Northern Illinois University’s Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center Thursday were told by a local member of Congress that the U.S. president is running a criminal enterprise.

Because of that belief, U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, a Naperville Democrat, called for removing President Donald Trump from his office.

“Donald Trump is unstable; he is dangerous and unable to function as commander in chief. I believe he needs to be removed from office,” Underwood said, drawing applause from the audience.

The fourth-term Congresswoman said she supports the impeachment of the U.S. President, or using the 25th Amendment to remove him from office, but said Republicans on Capitol Hill – who have the majority in the House of Representatives and Senate – won’t support it.

During the 85th town hall of her tenure in Congress, Underwood said the president “chooses personal profit over our families” by having his administration withhold funding appropriated by Congress for communities like DeKalb, while he has become richer.

“Trump’s own personal wealth has soared to over $2.2 billion,” Underwood said. “The corruption is everywhere, in every corner of his administration. It’s become a true criminal enterprise that’s supported by these extremists in Congress that refuse to hold him accountable. All of these crooks need to be held accountable.”

Underwood, a registered nurse who first ran for Congress in 2018, has filed to run for reelection in Illinois’ 14th Congressional District. That district, which was redrawn in 2022 after the 2020 census, includes parts of Bureau, DeKalb, Kane, Kendall, La Salle, Putnam and Will counties.

Republican James T. “Jim” Marter of Oswego will be on the ballot as her challenger, having won the GOP primary election in March against Gary Vician of Naperville. Marter, as well as local Republican officials such as DeKalb County State’s Attorney Riley Oncken and Brian Siwicki, the head of the DeKalb County Republican Party, attended the townhall.

When the more than 100 people walked into a conference room in NIU’s visitor center Thursday evening, they were greeted by an approximately half-hour-long compilation video of Underwood’s efforts on Capitol Hill.

Included was a video of Underwood questioning former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during congressional hearings about Noem purchasing luxury planes with tax dollars. Noem has since vacated her position.

Underwood, who sits on the subcommittee charged with funding the Department of Homeland Security, also scrutinized former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons during House committee hearings in April.

“The ICE director fell apart under my questioning, and now he’s gone too,” Underwood said.

While speaking in DeKalb, she said – like she did previously in Oswego – that she doesn’t believe that “ICE or Customs and Border Protection should get another penny from the Congress until there are significant reforms to” those agencies.

Underwood also said, as she has elsewhere in her district, that she believes the war with Iran is unconstitutional.

The town hall, which featured more than an hour of questions from the public and answers from Underwood, was moderated by DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes.

He praised Underwood’s ability to get funding allocated for projects with Safe Passage and the DeKalb Airport.

“We’ve seen firsthand, people can talk, but she actually does the walk,” Barnes said. “I can’t say enough how impressed I’ve always been with her, and what an honor, again, it is to be here tonight to facilitate today’s event.”

Among those who spoke to their representative Thursday night was Caroline Nyatuka, a DeKalb High School senior.

“In the times we’re living in, a lot of teens are very scared,” Nyatuka said. “Number one, they’re scared of their future, and also they’re scared of the America that we are moving into. And I think a part of that is all the news we’re seeing.”

Nyatuka asked Underwood if there was any federal legislation in the works that would strengthen protection for teenagers and improve their potential futures.

Underwood thanked Nyatuka for spending the first Thursday evening of her senior year at a congressional town hall. Underwood also said her office’s youth advisory council has shared similar sentiments to hers.

She said she has increased funding for Illinois school districts to hire counselors after students learn of traumatic events like suicides. However, she said school districts have not used the resource as much as Underwood said she might have hoped for.

“That’s the next thing that we’re working on – is trying to get our great superintendents and school boards to understand that these resources are there, and how to access them to be able to support the young people in our community,” Underwood said.