Broadview protests continue as local, state police work to separate ICE from protesters

Weeks of protests continued Friday morning at the Broadview ICE facility, with multiple police agencies coming together to create crowd control for protesters and assure that ICE vehicles could freely enter and exit the facility.

The facility, which is an immigration processing center that is being used as an immigration detention center and the headquarters for ICE’s operation Midway Blitz, has seen protests every Friday for almost a month.

Some of the police agencies and their vehicles seen in attendance on Friday included, Illinois State Police Department, Cook County Sheriff’s Department, Mobile Field Force, Broadview Police and agencies from neighboring suburbs like Hodgkins, North Riverside, Hillside and Maywood.

Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman was in attendance, saying she was there as an observer and as a protestor.

“I’m here for the Oak Park residents practicing their rights,” she said. “See how peaceful it is when they aren’t shooting things at protestors?” she said, gesturing to the protestors around her.

Scaman said she believes that ICE is not needed in Chicago, and that she has been on the phone with Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson offering support.

Ultimately there was a confrontation between ICE agents and those protesting, said Scaman. She said a group of some 30 ICE agents confronted protestors and aggressively pushed them across 25^th Street. Five protestors were arrested at the protest including Juan Muñoz, an Oak Park Township trustee. He was released late Friday. (See separate story.)

She said that when asked the Oak Park Police Department “Oak Park police will be at Broadview. The officers always follow the TRUST act and the sanctuary city ordinance,” she said.

At 9 a.m., a press conference made up of community activists, elected officials, and concerned residents took place outside of the ICE facility, just after United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was seen on the roof of the facility.

Speaking at the press conference were Chicago attorney Rachel Cohen, candidate for Illinois’ Ninth Congressional District Kat Abughazaleh, candidate for Illinois’ 13th Congressional District Demi Palecek, Alderman Andre Vasquez, Alderwoman Maria Hadden, Alderman Mike Rodriguez and resident A’Keisha Lee.

“This isn’t government, it’s chaos,” said Ald. Vasquez. “We want transparency, we want accountability, we want oversight, we want this to end.”

The day prior, officials put up concrete barriers outside the ICE facility to create a designated protest zone.

The Illinois State Police released a statement saying, “At the request of the Broadview Police Department, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) and the Illinois State Police (ISP), with assistance from the Cook County Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), have established a temporary Unified Command to coordinate public safety measures in Broadview around the facility being used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”

On Tuesday, Acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons sent a letter to Broadview Mayor Thompson claiming ICE “have repeatedly requested assistance from state and local law enforcement, including your own police department, to disperse these unlawful assemblies. Instead, local inaction has enabled agitators to escalate violence and placed federal officers, first responders, and Broadview residents in harm’s way. If our officers were provided the support they need, the crowd control measures referenced in your letter would not be necessary.”

While at least five protestors were arrested at the protest, far less tear gas and pepper bullets were deployed on protestors.

Later Friday afternoon, it was reported that the Village of Broadview filed a lawsuit against ICE and DHS over the fencing surrounding the ICE detention facility, along with a request for an emergency temporary restraining order.