ICE ‘launching enforcement action’ after Broadview mayor urges agents to end ‘siege’ on protesters

For the second day in a row, federal agents launched tear gas and other chemical irritants near protesters gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in west suburban Broadview on Saturday.

Agents fired pepper ball projectiles toward the 75 or so protesters as ICE agents drove a vehicle out through the facility’s gates evening and onto the street Saturday evening. Agents then arrested at least two of the protesters.

Agents released a small amount of tear gas earlier in the day. The drifting smoke drove back the dozen or so protesters outside the facility. A few minutes later, federal agents opened the gates to the facility and came out.

As agents then walked back inside the fenced area, one of them shoved a protester, who lost his balance and fell. The man was handcuffed and taken into the facility.

Federal immigration agents had warned of potential enforcement actions targeting Broadview residents and first responders Saturday, following remarks from the village’s mayor accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of “making war on my community.”

Hourslong protests have continued outside the ICE facility at 1930 Beach St. since the Trump administration launched “Operation Midway Blitz,” a campaign to ramp up immigration enforcement across the Chicago area, earlier this month.

On Friday, a crowd slowly grew to about 100 peaceful protesters before ICE officers started firing chemical irritants around 8 a.m. They were targeting demonstrators who were yelling at passing vehicles on the other side of a heavy-duty fence that ICE erected in the roadway this week.

Non-lethal ammunition and tear gas followed.

Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson delivered a direct message to Russell Hott, director of ICE’s Chicago field office: “It has to stop.”

However, village officials said Saturday that ICE agents warned the Broadview Police Department there would be “a sh– show” in Broadview in response to Thompson’s comments.

Agents wearing military fatigues were seen carrying boxes and buckets labeled as hazardous materials into the facility on Saturday morning.

ICE agents told the Broadview Fire Department “that they will be launching enforcement action throughout all of Broadview throughout the day,” village officials said. “Additionally, ICE informed BPD officials that ICE agents will be again deploying chemical arms, such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”

Village officials urged residents to take precautions to protect themselves and their families.

Greg Bovino, the chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol El Centro sector, was seen leading several people in handcuffs into the facility Saturday afternoon.

At least five detainees, including a young girl, could be seen being led from a red van. Two men were being patted down by agents in full tactical gear.

O’Neill Burke urged to investigate ICE

In downtown Chicago on Saturday afternoon, protesters gathered to send a message to Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke.

They called on O’Neill Burke to investigate the ICE facility in Broadview and the death of Silverio Villegas González, a Mexican immigrant who was fatally shot by a federal immigration agent during a traffic stop in Franklin Park this month. They also demanded that she release those who have claimed to be tortured by police and wrongfully convicted.

Demonstrators also criticized O’Neill Burke’s decision to drop charges against Oak Lawn police Officer Patrick O’Donnell, who was accused of using excessive force during the 2022 arrest of teenager Hadi Abu-Atelah in the south suburb.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office did not immediately respond to the Sun-Times’ request for comment.

Following the opening chants, several organizers took the stage, urging attendees to take action by joining activist organizations and reporting local ICE activity by calling the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights hotline at (855) 435-7693.

The group then marched downtown, stopping briefly outside ICE’s Chicago field office. “We know what that building’s for!” the crowd chanted. “Deportations and war!”

Among the protesters was Liza Johnson, 26, who lives in the South Loop. She is training to be a pastor with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

“My faith tells me that standing up for my neighbors who are being disappeared by our government is important and a part of the gospel work,” she said. “I know people who are scared to leave their homes. I can leave my home. So it’s really important that I take a stand in this way.”

The crowd also included the Avila family, who carried signs that said, “Brown skin is not a crime” and “Fight ignorance not immigrants.”

Andres Avila, 47, said he was concerned about the presence of ICE agents near Back of the Yards College Preparatory High School, where he works as a counselor.

“We need to make noise, and we need to let the world know what’s happening and that this is not the country that we were told we lived in,” said Avila, who attended the protest with his wife, Silvia, and their 14-year-old daughter, Maya.

Organizer Husam Marajda praised the impact of Chicago’s mass protests and said he hoped demonstrators would continue to hold ICE accountable.

“We want them to feel empowered,” said Marajda, co-chair of the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda and member of the United States Palestinian Community Network. “I want people to know that them being out here matters.”