Brown’s Broadview, a mostly Black suburb of about 8,000 residents, has emerged as a center of the storm. As federal agents clash with local protesters, tensions are escalating. A sleepy downstate Illinois town has been the real ground zero for “Operation Midway Blitz.” This new effort from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is part of a larger, national push by DHS to increase immigration enforcement across the country. This operation has been the catalyst for a tidal wave of Cajun country disturbance, especially outside the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) compound.
Secretary Kristi Noem toured the ICE facility in Broadview on Friday. She was joined by Gregory Bovino, a chief from the U.S. border patrol’s El Paso sector. Their presence coincided with heightened activity from federal agents, who clashed violently with demonstrators gathered for a routine protest against immigration enforcement.
The Broadview facility has become the scene of dramatic clashes between ICE agents and protestors and journalists. In the early hours on Friday morning, ICE coordinated with Illinois state police and other local law enforcement agencies. Combined, they violently cleared non-violent protestors and jailed dozens of protesters. These confrontations have become viral spectacles. They depict agents deploying tear gas and pepper balls while forcing protesters away from the perimeter.
Katrina Thompson, the mayor of Broadview, wrote in a letter to the DHS that she was “appalled.” She criticized the actions of ICE agents for, in her words, “making war in our community.” The crisis has garnered headlines, in part for its extreme violent methods. More importantly, these moves have dealt a crushing blow to small, local businesses. A cabinet-making business adjacent to the ICE facility reported tear gas infiltrating its warehouse and workers being struck by pepper balls during these confrontations.
Witnesses have provided descriptions of terrifying situations in which people were violently manhandled by Border Patrol agents. One protester, A’keisha, spoke passionately about the violent tactics used by ICE agents. Her compelling testimony laid out how their actions were focused on harming lives, not enforcing immigration laws. She noted, “What was unique on the first day is that it didn’t feel like ICE had planned to use their legal tools to remove us,” adding that the agents “chose instead to be violent.”
The violence has targeted not just protesters. Members of the press have been shot with rubber bullets and teargassed. Steve Held, a co-founder of Unraveled Press, was arrested by federal agents while documenting the protest. CBS Chicago News reporter Asal Rezaei was shot in the leg with a pepper ball from 50 feet away. This incident put her life and health at risk from toxic chemicals.
As he was praying, a number of “pepper exploding pellets” hit him. He emphasized his commitment to peace and justice, saying, “I’m not a political ideologue, but I am very deeply rooted in my faith… as someone who can proclaim the good news and call these ICE agents into their right mind.”
The hyperviolence of federal agents’ response is endangering the safety of all those on the ground—including serious legal observers. Molly Armour, a volunteer attorney with the National Lawyers Guild Chicago, shared a troubling pattern. She drew attention to attacks specifically targeting legal observers whose role is to help keep demonstrations peaceful. She stated, “There has been an extreme escalation in the use of force by federal agents at that facility against people who are exercising their First Amendment rights.”
The story from Broadview is part of a larger national picture about immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. Data from The Deportation Data Project shows that in just Illinois this year, nearly 5,000 people have been detained. This statistic highlights the increasingly combative nature of the current debate over immigration policy, enforcement, and criminalization.
As the protests rage on in Broadview, local residents are still trying to come to terms with what it means that the feds were operating in their community. Local leaders and activists promised to keep the heat on to stop what they see as brutal and unlawful policing.