Scuffle breaks out as demonstrators, state police spar outside Broadview ICE facility
Several protesters have been arrested and have tussled with state police Friday morning as demonstrators gathered at the Broadview ICE facility after a judge ordered a fence that was built in September to be taken down, and two other key rulings Thursday regarding ongoing immigration enforcement in recent weeks.
There was no sign of National Guard members — who were seen there for the first time on Thursday — but scores of state police - about 50 - are stationed along 25th Avenue, where vehicles enter and exit the facility.
A scuffle broke out as troopers - last least two of whom were seen with pepper ball guns — pushed protesters away, and back from the street.
Traffic was disrupted earlier by several demonstrators who were in the street along 25th Avenue near the facility.
A judge ordered a fence that was erected in September to be taken down immediately after the village of Broadview filed a complaint.
Abigail Warhus, 29, says the makeshift fence has “infringed upon us as protesters” and is glad it’s being dismantled.
“It also infringed on us being able to get close and monitor what’s going on in the facility, which is how this whole protest began, in order to monitor what they’re doing [and] keep an eye on them in order to protect our neighbors.”
She added that the fence dismantling, the latest in a series of judicial rulings that includes the prevention of the National Guard being deployed and chemical irritants being used on protesters and members of the press who don’t pose a threat, shows that “Chicago is fighting back.”
“Chicago is not going to sit by and let ICE terrorize our neighborhoods,” Warhus said. “We’re willing to mobilize as soon as possible to get things done.”
Two other keys rulings happened Thursday: A judge barred the ‘federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois' for at least 14 days, while a third judge’s temporarily ruling barred federal agents from spray chemical agents, rubber bullets at peaceful protesters or journalists covering demonstrations.
After a historic Thursday hearing that lasted more than three hours at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, a judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from “ordering the federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois.”
The temporarily ruling regarding chemical irritants and rubber pellets, issued by U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis, stems from a lawsuit filed this week by the Chicago Headline Club, Block Club Chicago, the Chicago News Guild, and other independent journalists and protesters against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other federal officials.
The facility, 1930 Beach St., is the site of ongoing and often tense demonstrations - with agents deploying chemical irritants and rubber pellets - since September. Broadview police officers were also there in force.
The facility has become a hotbed for protests since President Donald Trump’s administration aggressively ramped up his deportation campaign in the Chicago area last month under the name “Operation Midway Blitz.”
Since then, protesters have arrived at the facility in the early morning hours, sometimes as early as 5 a.m., and have clashed with federal authorities into the late night hours.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.