By Illinois Review
Illinois Republicans have warned for years that their greatest weakness isn’t always Democrats – it’s the lack of courage within their own caucus. And few episodes illustrate that better than what happened on October 30, 2025, when freshman State Sen. Darby Hills, R-Barrington Hills, walked off the Senate floor and hid during the most consequential immigration vote of the year.
Multiple lawmakers, staffers, and lobbyists share the same story: as debate closed on House Bill 1312 – the Safety and Liberation Together (SALT) Act – Hills abruptly left the Senate chamber. Witnesses say she ducked into the bathroom. Others say she fled down the hallway. But the outcome is undeniable: when the vote was called, she was gone.
While every single Republican senator voted NO, Darby Hills alone was recorded as “NV” – No Vote. She was the only GOP legislator who failed to stand against the largest sanctuary expansion in Illinois history.
Hills returned to the Senate floor only after the clock had stopped and voting had officially ended. She missed the vote – yet reappeared just moments too late to be held publicly accountable.
That is how she earned the nickname now spreading around Springfield: “Hiding Hills.”
On December 9, Gov. JB Pritzker signed HB 1312 into law during a celebratory event in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. The bill takes immediate effect and transforms Illinois into one of the most aggressive sanctuary jurisdictions in America.
HB 1312 blocks or restricts federal immigration enforcement at courthouses, hospitals, day cares, schools, college campuses, shelters, and even inside places of worship – creating what critics describe as state-sanctioned safe zones for those violating federal immigration law.
It also expands privacy rules and opens the door to lawsuits against federal officers performing their duties. Democrats call it “solidarity.” Opponents call it unconstitutional.
The timing was intentional. HB 1312 is the Illinois left’s response to the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” which resulted in thousands of arrests across the Chicago region.
Conservatives nationwide have blasted the bill. Trump’s border czar Tom Homan called it “an unconstitutional invasion of federal authority.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a statement condemning the Illinois General Assembly for passing a bill that “provides sanctuary to criminals” and insisting, “The deportations will continue.”
But while national leaders fight back, one thing remains true inside Springfield: Republicans needed unity. And Darby Hills hid.
