Broadview expands designated protest zone outside ICE facility
The village of Broadview is expanding a designated protest zone outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in the western suburb, even as the Trump administration's immigration enforcement effort in the Chicago area has begun scaling back, if perhaps only temporarily.
Broadview police, Cook County Sheriff's deputies, and Illinois State Police have been running a unified command center to coordinate public safety and crowd control operations outside the Broadview ICE facility since early October.
As part of that security plan, officials established a designated protest zone on Beach Street, where the ICE facility is located, requiring protesters to stay on the sidewalks just north of the building.
On Tuesday, officials announced the designated protest zone would be expanded to allow protesters to gather on Beach Street itself, between Lexington Avenue, and the entrance to a large commercial parking lot across the street from the ICE facility.
That stretch of Beach Street will be closed to vehicle traffic to reduce the risk to protesters. Officials said a designated vehicle traffic zone south of the protest area will continue to be off limits to protesters to allow vehicles to access local businesses on Beach Street south of Lexington Avenue.
Wednesday morning, concrete barriers that previously kept protesters on the sidewalks were moved to make space in the street for future demonstrations. Police also removed some heavy-duty vehicle barricades.
"The mission of the temporary Unified Command is to ensure the safe expression of First Amendment rights and protect the safety, property, and access of everyone in the community," officials said in a statement.
The move to expand the protest zone outside the ICE facility comes days after U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino and many of the Border Patrol agents under his command have left Chicago and begun an immigration enforcement operation in Charlotte, North Carolina. Some Border Patrol agents remain in Chicago, however, and Operation Midway Blitz continues, and additional Border Patrol agents could return to the area in March.
On Friday, 21 people were arrested and four officers were injured when protesters clashed with police outside the Broadview ICE facility, after several people, including clergy members, pushed past the barricades around the designated protest area.
Witnesses said about 15 of the people arrested were members of the clergy, who had wanted to be allowed inside the ICE facility to deliver communion to detained immigrants.