Two of the candidates running for Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat shared their views on issues facing the immigrant community on Wednesday evening during a forum organized by the San Francisco Latino Democratic Club alongside other groups.
District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan and Saikat Chakrabarti, former chief of staff to New York City Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, appeared at Brava Theatre in the Mission District for a debate moderated by Marlen Vasquez, an English professor at City College of San Francisco. The theater was mostly empty, with a crowd of about 70 people.
Sen. Scott Wiener, the third major candidate for Pelosi’s seat, didn’t participate in the forum — his absence was highlighted by an empty chair on the side of the stage with his name on it and a recorded cricket sound effect whenever Vasquez asked the empty chair a question.
Congressional candidates Connie Chan and Saikat Chakrabarti participated in a debate at the Brava Theater Center, while Senator Scott Weiner missed the debate on Feb. 11, 2026. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
Wiener announced in a Feb. 2 social media post that he would not participate in the forum and invited the other candidates to do the same. “I welcome a candidate forum with SF’s Latino community, but not one spearheaded by an org that refused to hold its leader accountable when he was credibly accused of sexual assault,” he wrote, referencing the allegations against Kevin Ortiz, who recently ended his tenure as president of the Latino Democratic Club and is no longer affiliated with the club.
At the forum, Chan and Chakrabarti — both from immigrant families — emphasized their support for the Latino community, healthcare for all, including undocumented immigrants, and investment in free public education.
Chan said that as a member of Congress she would work to expand sanctuary protections across the nation. Chakrabarti proposed hiring more immigration judges for the backlogged immigration court system, expanding the cap on visas, and streamlining the pathway to citizenship. “We need to fix our broken immigration system,” he said.
The two candidates also agreed on defunding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and holding ICE agents accountable if they commit crimes, with Chan saying the Trump administration has been ignoring the rule of law.
“Let’s just take back Congress, and then also take back the White House and making sure that we enforce the rule of law,” she added.
The candidates also agreed on taxing billionaires and stopping increases to the military budget. But while Chan criticized President Donald Trump for his foreign policy, calling him a “threat to our national and global security,” Chakrabarti also emphasized that both parties played a role in the current status quo.
“Trump is using this military state that got developed over decades, and using it for great destruction, but he didn’t create this. He’s just using it,” Chakrabarti said.
On questions about housing for immigrant communities, Chan spoke about the need to expand rental subsidies and build new affordable housing units, citing San Francisco’s Proposition G of 2024 as an example of how she worked on providing rental subsidies at the local level. “We can continue to support all communities of low income, and all income levels, and including our undocumented community,” she said.
Chakrabarti said that he didn’t believe government programs, like Section 8 vouchers, should be tied to people’s immigration status. He proposed social housing programs to address displacement driven by gentrification. “In Congress, I will call for a public bank that actually directly finances and builds social housing in places like the Mission,” he added.
When the moderator asked what differentiated the campaigns of the candidates, Chakrabarti emphasized his experience working on legislation in D.C., including the work on the Green New Deal as Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, and his efforts to remake the Democratic Party. “I’m trying to build a movement to actually replace what the current Democratic Party establishment is,” he said.
Chan, on the other hand, reiterated that she’s a first-generation immigrant and a working mom, and she understands the struggles of working people. “We’re also the only campaign that is endorsed by working people,” she said.
In her closing remarks, Chan said she would fight for an agenda that will rebuild the middle class and make life more affordable, citing better wages, better health care and better education.
Chakrabarti pointed to ICE activity, artificial intelligence and climate change as examples of issues we are currently facing to stress the importance of the 2026 and 2028 elections, and he underlined, once again, his commitment to changing the system.
Congressional candidates will go through a primary on June 2, and the two candidates with the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, will confront each other in the general election on Nov. 3.