Crime & Law
Federal Judge Orders ICE to Take Down ‘Illegal’ Fence at Broadview Facility
Personnel walk inside an immigration processing facility in Broadview, Ill., Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo / Paul Beaty)
A federal judge has ordered U.S. immigration officials to remove an 8-foot fence around a suburban processing center after local officials said it endangered residents by preventing the fire department from reaching area businesses.
U.S. District Judge LaShonda Hunt late Thursday approved a temporary restraining order that requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to take down the fence at their processing facility in Broadview after local officials argued it was constructed illegally and blocked access to village roads.
Hunt found that “the Village is likely to succeed on its claim that the Federal Defendants’ unilateral decision to put up a fence restricting access on Beach Street exceeds their statutory authority.”
“Further,” Hunt wrote in her 18-page ruling, “the Court finds that the Village has shown irreparable harm in that the construction of a fence controlled by the Federal Defendants on the Village’s property prevents the Village from protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public.”
Broadview’s acting Fire Chief Matthew Martin last month wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security demanding that the fence be removed immediately. He said it was “illegally built” without a permit on a public street that falls under the jurisdiction of the village, and was blocking the Broadview Fire Department from accessing that area.
“In case of fire or other emergencies at businesses located on the street, Broadview Fire apparatus would be unable to use the road to access these businesses,” Martin wrote.
When the fence remained, the village opted to file a lawsuit seeking its removal.
Federal officials argued the fence was necessary “to protect federal agents, federal property, and the public from harm as well as to prevent interference with federal law enforcement” amid ongoing protests at the site.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Walsh wrote that the “emergency” that the village alleges exists is that “there might be a fire someday in one of the buildings near the immigration processing center and that the fence gate might not be opened quickly enough for fire trucks to get through.”
“That is certainly an issue worth considering and planning for,” Walsh wrote, “but it does not compare to the actual, ongoing emergency that the fence was put up to deal with, namely the ongoing interference with, violence against, and the threat of violence against DHS personnel and others.”
Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson called the ruling “a validation of local law and, most importantly, a decisive win for public safety.”
“The judge’s decision confirms that the illegal fence constructed by ICE is not only a clear defiance of Broadview’s ordinance but an unacceptable and escalating risk to our Beach Street businesses, their customers, and our first responders,” Thompson said in a statement. “The law of probability dictates that the danger increases daily. The court has spoken clearly and unequivocally. Now, it remains to be seen if ICE will respect the judge’s order and dismantle this hazard immediately, or if they will continue their pattern of defiance."
