CHICAGO — For yet another Friday in a row, protestors gathered outside of a suburban ICE processing facility amid the ongoing immigration enforcement operation underway in Chicagoland.
Protests have been taking place weekly outside the Broadview facility that ICE has been using to process those detained amid their operation dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.”
By 10 a.m. Friday, a crowd of around 150 to 200 protestors gathered outside the facility, and things remained peaceful, especially compared to previous weeks, when clashes unfolded between agents and demonstrators.
While officers and state troopers were on the scene, they were not interacting with the crowd that stood behind the concrete barriers of the designated protest area.
Some of those who gathered on Friday said they have come out every week since the operations began, while others said it was their first time demonstrating.
The demonstrations, including singing, chanting and a flower communion, which participants said symbolized resilience and hope. But while the protests remained peaceful, some in attendance voiced frustration over the restrictions on protests.
“The work that we are doing is small in the face of how big these problems are, and they can at times feel insignificant. Every single one of these is another drop of water wearing away that stone of hatred and intolerance and cruelty,” one protestor said.
The protest comes as ICE and CBP face scrutiny over their actions in Chicago, including by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who worries they may have disobeyed her recently issued temporary restraining order banning federal agents from using tear gas on protesters and journalists who pose no threat.
The crowd outside the facility had begun to thin out by around 12 p.m.
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