A video from Abdul El-Sayed’s 2018 Michigan gubernatorial campaign is circulating online, showing the now-U.S. Senate candidate making forceful statements against local cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and in favor of expanded immigration policy.
The clip, pulled from a 2018 candidate forum and recirculated by X user Maze Moore, shows El-Sayed telling the audience he would push legislation preventing local governments from assisting ICE. “And I’m not willing to be a part of that,” he said.
In the same clip, El-Sayed argued against treating people differently based on immigration status. “Beyond that, we also have to make sure we are not discriminating based on documentation status,” he said, adding that people without legal status are denied access to services that others can use. “I think that’s ridiculous, and we’ve got to stop discriminating that way,” he said.
He went on to call for government funding to help immigrants retrain for new professions and to learn English, saying, “We as a country, I believe, owe it to the world to open our doors.”
A different campaign style in 2026
El-Sayed is now running for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan and has adopted a more casual public image than he had in 2018, favoring T-shirts and jeans over the suits he wore during his gubernatorial run. He has also faced criticism in recent weeks for other remarks, including a clip in which he mocked Michigan football.
El-Sayed’s 2018 gubernatorial bid ended in defeat. He lost the Democratic primary to Gretchen Whitmer, who went on to win the governorship, by more than 21 percentage points. El-Sayed did finish ahead of Shri Thanedar in that primary; Thanedar is now a member of Congress.
The resurfaced video comes as El-Sayed seeks to present a more moderate profile to Michigan voters ahead of the 2026 midterms, in a Senate race that will factor into the national balance of power in Congress.
