“We don’t want them here.”
The mayor of the small village of Broadview, Illinois, in west suburban Chicago, told reporters Tuesday that her small town is not pleased to be the site of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center.
The site has been targeted by protesters since ICE enforcement activities recently increased there.
Local ABC 7 reported that surrounded by local police and fire chiefs, and former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Broadview Village Mayor Katrina Thompson, less than politely told ICE to move out.
“We don’t need them,” Thompson said. “We can govern ourselves, and we have been doing that until this point.”
She said the use of rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray during protests is too much. Thompson said the village has initiated three criminal investigations into ICE enforcement actions in the village.
Homeland Security says ICE agents have only responded to attacks by protesters. Just days after a shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas, protesters at the Broadview ICE site were shouting, “Shoot ICE.”
One of the protesters was carrying a firearm. A department release said protesters during that incident showed up “with boxes of fireworks, N95 masks, gas masks, goggles, knee and elbow protection.”
A DHS post outlined a weekend protest that also could have turned deadly as more protesters armed with guns showed up. “On Saturday night, federal agents arrested armed rioters … for assault at ICE’s Broadview facility,” the post read. “They will be prosecuted and held accountable. We will not be deterred.”
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