BROADVIEW, IL (NewsNation) — Tensions continue to rise outside an immigration facility in suburban Chicago, as protesters and federal agents clash over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the city and over the presence of hundreds of federal agents and officers that are participating in Operation Midway Blitz.
On Friday, protesters gathered outside the immigration processing facility in the Village of Broadview, calling for transparency and accountability from federal agents. The ICE processing facility serves as the main processing hub for Operation Midway Blitz, which began in Chicago on Sept. 8.
In recent weeks, Broadview has been the site of tense encounters between protesters and federal officers and agents, who have deployed tear gas, pepper balls, rubber bullets and other non-legal weapons to attempt to keep protesters at bay.
NewsNation sources confirm that 18 people were arrested at the facility on Friday when Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appeared at the facility along with U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, who is overseeing the Chicago operation. Friday’s encounter also included an increase in law enforcement officers, including troopers from the Illinois State Police.
Friday marked the first day of a joint patrolling effort between the Broadview Police Department, Illinois State Police and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, the village spokesperson told NewsNation. Of the 18 arrests, four were made by Illinois state troopers, one was made by Broadview Police and the remainder were made by federal agents.
A village spokesperson told NewsNation on Friday that Noem showed up unannounced at the village offices seeking a meeting with Mayor Katrina Thompson. He said Thompson was out of the office, but later went to the ICE facility along with Police Chief Thomas Mills in an attempt to meet with Noem.
The purpose of the meeting, the spokesperson said, was to request that fencing that had been placed around the facility by ICE be removed. Thompson was told by federal agents that Noem was “unavailable to meet”, the spokesperson said.
In a statement, Thompson told NewsNation that she sent her team home on Friday because they were uncomfortable with the presence of federal agents and officers.
“We do not know the true intentions of these federal agents, nor what they came to do,” Thompson said. “But what I do know is this: I will not allow my team to work in fear or be subjected to intimidation. Their safety and well-being must come first.”
A video posted on social media by conservative activist Benny Johnson showed Noem being denied access to the village offices, where federal officials asked to use the restroom. Asked by Johnson why she was denied, Noem criticized the leadership in Democrat-led cities like Chicago for their lack of cooperation.
“As much as these local leaders and governors talk about cooperating and having the backs of our law enforcement, this is what we have to put up with every single day,” Noem said. “All we’re doing is getting criminal and terrorists, cartels and gang members off the street to make families safer here. It’s ridiculous.”
Construction crews installed new concrete barriers at the facility, weeks after fencing was installed around the processing center, where windows and doors were boarded up before Operation Midway Blitz began last month. Village officials have called the fencing that Thompson was seeking to have dismantled on Friday as being illegal.
With added federal and state law enforcement presence, demonstrators continue to protest against the ongoing operation in Broadview. Earlier this week, Thompson said that ICE is waging war on the suburban community of 8,000 residents.
That message continued on Friday.
“Over the last month, we have watched as ICE has operated with impunity in Chicago. They destroy homes, kill our neighbors and disappear hundreds in the name of unlawful and racist orders,” Kat Abughazaleh, a Congressional candidate told reporters at a news conference.
During the press conference, federal agents began detaining protesters that had gathered on the other side of the facility. NewsNation’s Mills Hayes reported live from the scene, noting that protesters ranged in age, with some in their teens, while others were above 60.
Federal agents have been accused of using tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets on crowds gathering outside the facility — some of which have struck protesters, bystanders and journalists.
“Broadview is a warzone. It’s a warzone with the government waging war on peaceful protesters. And every week the government escalates,” Abughazaleh said. “You can see it right here, they have a fixed gun on the roof right now, aiming at protesters.”
Reports have also emerged of U.S. citizens being detained by federal agents. In response, veterans’ groups, civil rights organizations and some National Guard members have joined demonstrations outside the facility in Broadview. The protests followed the arrest of 70-year-old veteran Dana Briggs, as well as the court release of Paul Ivery, who is accused of threatening to kill an ICE officer during a demonstration.
“We want transparency, we want accountability, we want oversight,” Andre Vasquez, a Chicago alderman said. “But we want this to end, and we want people to have solutions rather than excuses.”
Conditions inside the facility have also come under scrutiny.
“We learned through a client’s family member that individuals at Broadview are sleeping on the floor,” said Brigitte Kocheny, supervising attorney at the Children’s Legal Center. “There are no beds. There are no pots. They are not giving blankets or pillows. They are on the floor.”
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez told NewsNation on Thursday that his office has received complaints for months from constituents whose loved ones have been detained at taken to the Broadview facility about a lack of showers and a kitchen. Because the processing center was not designed to be used as a detention center, it is not built out to provide services for detainees to be kept for more than 12 hours.
However, Sigcho-Lopez said that the facility has become a “de facto” detention center and that detainees have been kept there for up to five days. Besides reports of poor conditions, Sigcho-Lopez has received complaints about detainees not having access to proper legal counsel and about families not being told where their loved ones are being moved to until after they are gone.
Sigcho-Lopez said that ICE is “essentially erasing” any sense of human rights for detainees, who he said are being “treated like animals.”
“This is not creating any safety for anybody,” Sigcho Lopez said. If anything, to me, the facility is a ticking time bomb, and it’s just a matter of time before someone gets hurt.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he learned through media reports that Noem would soon be visiting the facility. Pritzker said he wants Noem to take questions from reporters about “snatching up families, scaring law-abiding citizens, violating due process rights, and detaining U.S. citizens.”
The Village of Broadview has opened three criminal investigations into ICE activity, focusing on the use of chemical agents, physical harm and verbal abuse directed at local police. The village mayor and police chief said federal agents have crossed the line and have demanded an end to what they call “state-sanctioned violence.”
“ICE has to stop unprovoked criminal chemical arms attacks on peaceful protesters and on journalists,” Thompson, Broadview’s mayor, said. “This behavior is not normal. This is not Putin’s Russian. This is the United States of America.”
In addition, the Illinois State Police announced Thursday a “safe zone” meant to protect lawful protesters at the facility and “the health and safety of all individuals, including nearby Broadview residents and businesses, and enable the peaceful expression of First Amendment rights.”
Federal officials have pushed back on many of these allegations, calling them attempts to smear ICE operations.
A spokesperson for ICE said the Broadview mayor is distorting reality and that ICE officers are protecting the community from real threats while also facing growing violence against them.
NewsNation’s Ali Bradley contributed reporting to this story