Broadview ICE protests grow despite fence and gas
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Protesters stand outside the "illegal" fence erected by ICE officials this week during a Friday morning protest that drew hundreds to the Broadway ICE facility. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios
Tensions escalated Friday morning at the ICE facility in West Suburban Broadview where agents pepper sprayed demonstrators even as they stood far from the building, stopped by what local officials call an "illegal" fence.
Why it matters: The fence and tear gas used the previous week have not discouraged protests. Instead, the volume of demonstrators grew to hundreds this week, but this time, most came prepared with masks and goggles.
Chicago City Council immigration committee chair Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), sporting a grey respirator, helped lead demonstrators and instructed them to move when vehicles needed to get through a driveway leading to the facility.
- He told Axios that he never imagined he would need a "gas mask to do my job," but everyone in the two-block area, including nearby police recruited from other West suburban forces, were left coughing and teary eyed by the noxious fumes.
Zoom in: Demonstrators on Friday morning were singing, chanting and occasionally yelling insults at the ICE agents.
Zoom out: Religious groups have been holding Friday morning prayer vigils outside of the Broadview facility for years, but ramped up deportations have drawn a new group of activists whose numbers continue to grow.
What they're saying: "For, as far as I can tell, no reason at all, ICE agents shot a series of pepper balls and a bunch of tear gas at a big crowd of completely non-violent demonstrators," Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss told Axios at the protest.
- "It's getting more and more gratuitous. They're really clearly just sort of playing at warfare to make us feel like we are under occupation."
The other side: ICE did not immediately respond to Axios requests for comments on the latest protests and why the fence has not come down.
- Earlier in the week, ICE officials said they built the fence in response to actions of "rioters" during the previous Friday protests.
State of play: Broadview officials tell Axios that ICE has not responded to their demands to remove the fence that they say poses a safety hazard by blocking emergency access on a village road.
The latest: Friday afternoon Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson issued a letter to ICE officials, saying the use of tear gas and pepper spray is "endangering village residents and harming police, firefighters and American citizens exercising 1st Amendment rights."
- Broadview "residents are begging for relief from" ICE's "siege of our neighborhood," she writes. "In effect, you are making war on my community. And it has to stop."
What we're watching: If ICE responds to Thompson's demands, and if and how protests continue to grow.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with details on a letter Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent to ICE.