Protesters and politicians gathered outside a federal building in Broadview on Friday to denounce the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement mission a day after a judge temporarily blocked the president from using the National Guard in the effort.
Friday protests have become a weekly event at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, where federal agents have deployed tear gas and fired baton rounds at demonstrators on multiple occasions. The confrontations prompted local authorities to create a so-called Free Speech Zone, a dedicated area for people to voice opposition to the mass deportation mission.
There was no visible presence of the Texas National Guard at the facility Friday. The troops were occasionally spotted there Thursday before the judge’s ruling, but did not interact with protesters.
The Pentagon did not clarify what the Guard was doing in the meantime. A Tribune journalist spotted uniformed troops at the U.S. Army Reserve Training Center in suburban Elwood, where the Texas National Guard has been garrisoned since Tuesday. A few appeared to be carrying rifles as they walked around the sprawling 3,600-acre property about 50 miles southwest of Chicago.
“As a matter of long-standing policy, the Department does not comment on ongoing litigation,” the Department of Defense wrote in a statement. “The federalized National Guard personnel will remain in a federalized status; we don’t have any other details to provide at this time.”
U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, both Illinois Democrats, said they were not able to enter the facility Friday. Speaking at a news conference outside the building, Durbin said the Trump administration is “stonewalling” them from assessing the building’s conditions. Immigrants detained have complained of cramped rooms and a lack of hot food.
“Something’s going on in there that they don’t want us to see,” Durbin said. “I don’t know what it is, but all Americans should be using the same question — what is it?”
Duckworth also called it “shameful” that they couldn’t go inside, adding “you don’t run and hide and you’re proud of what you’re doing.”
She encouraged protesters in Broadview to continue to exercise their First Amendment rights peacefully, and to respect law enforcement. She said if the president truly cared about stopping crime he wouldn’t have slashed federal funding for violence prevention programs.
“(The Trump administration) is trying to normalize having troops on our streets, and they’re doing this all across this great nation,” Duckworth said. “They are trying to normalize an extension of presidential power that is not appropriate under the Constitution.”
Earlier Friday morning, about 150 protesters gathered at Harvard Street and 25th Avenue near the ICE facility. The group chanted “Down down with deportation” while some carried signs that said “Trump out.” One demonstrator dressed in a cow costume and carried a sign that said “this heifer hates Nazis.”
State police arrested three people after they attempted to block vehicle access to Harvard, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office. Authorities didn’t use tear gas, although some carried batons.
A judge on Thursday also ordered federal agents in the area to stop firing projectiles, such as tear gas and pepper spray, at journalists, clergy and protesters unless they pose an immediate threat of causing physical harm to someone else. The order also generally prohibits federal agents from dispersing crowds unless they are breaking the law.
Local law enforcement, which included Illinois State Police and Broadview police, also did not appear to enforce an order from Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson limiting protest activity from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
About 100 protesters had gathered at the intersection by 8 a.m., although authorities requested that a smaller group at Beach Street near the fence by the facility leave until the designated hours. Some chanted the “Constitution ends at 9 a.m.” while they backed away to the sidewalk.
The protests continued following an order from U.S. District Judge April Perry barring the president from deploying federalized National Guard troops from any state to any location in Illinois for “Operation Midway Blitz,” the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts in the Chicago area. In making her ruling, Perry, who was appointed to the bench by President Joe Biden, said she had no faith in the government’s claims of out-of-control violence and that it was federal agents who started it by aggressively targeting protesters with tear gas and militaristic tactics.
The White House has appealed Perry’s decision.
As the 6 p.m. deadline for the protesters to disperse loomed, a small group of activists milled casually inside the barricades set up for the Free Speech Zone. Protesters held up signs at the corner asking drivers to honk if they support the constitution. Most responded by pressing lightly on their horns.A man drummed as some protesters danced awkwardly from side to side. A woman stood near the fence in a yellow chicken suit holding a blue rubber chicken.
The woman in the suit, who declined to disclose her name for security concerns and instead asked to be called the “rubber chicken,” said her costume was born out of wanting to bring levity to the continued protests.
“It’s like, ‘Oh no, look at the violent protesters, (they’re) doing crazy things like dancing, (blowing) bubbles,’” she said. “It’s just not going to fit their narrative because that’s not who we are.”
Next to the woman, Amanda Starr sported a plush Stitch costume, from Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch.” For the past five weekends, Starr, 37, said she has driven down to Broadview from Appleton, Wisconsin, to protest. She said she was inspired, in part, to come in costume this week after she saw a viral video of protesters outside an ICE facility Portland, Oregon, wearing inflatable frog costumes.
“It just lightens the mood and keeps the protests peaceful and the tension (down) a bit,” Starr said.
Farther down Beach Street, Angie Kane stood by a small group of staged media wearing an inflatable alien costume. Kane, 50, said she took a vacation day Friday and traveled out to the west suburban site from Indiana. It was her first time at the facility.
“This is amazing,” Kane said, smiling as she looked at the group of remaining protesters, where the chicken suit still bobbed among the small crowd.
A small number of people arrived to counterprotest. A white woman held up a “We (Heart) ICE” sign as a Black man led an “abolish ICE” chant.
Just before 5 p.m., a man walked over to state troopers assigned to prevent protesters from approaching the ICE facility’s fence and told them he has a relative in the building who needs medicine. The troopers talked with the man and appeared to be helping him. The man pointed to a bottle of pills and gave a thumbs-up to watching protesters.
The protesters left just before 6 p.m. but migrated over to 25th Avenue and Harvard Street, where the main entrance to the ICE facility is located. State troopers amassed on one side of the street while a small number of demonstrators lingered.One woman started playing the standoff song from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”
After a few minutes, a mix of Broadview cops and Cook County sheriff’s deputies surrounded a man and asked to search his bag. It was unclear why but it appeared to be related to him wearing a gas mask. The officers didn’t find anything and thanked him for cooperating.
The man then told the crowd to go home.
The officers reopened the streets and the protest officially ended, though cops stuck around just in case.
By early evening, the controversial security fencing constructed around the holding facility — which a federal judge has ruled must be removed by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday — remained standing.
Chicago Tribune’s Robert McCoppin and freelancer Alicia Fabbre contributed.
More news
- Federal judge blocks Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops to Chicago and rest of Illinois
- Broadview residents are scared as ICE facility becomes a battleground for Trump immigration blitz
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- The National Guard has been activated to Chicago 18 times from 1877-2021. Here’s a breakdown.
- Illinois Democratic lawmakers take on activist role amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown
- Mayor Brandon Johnson calls for ‘dramatic’ response ahead of imminent National Guard deployment
