Politics
Broadview Mayor Aims to Limit Protest Hours Outside Suburban ICE Facility
Greg Bovino, the chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol El Centro sector, right, walks along a protester with his hands behind his back near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Ill., Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley).
Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson has signed an executive order that aims to set fixed protest hours outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s suburban processing facility.
Thompson’s order, announced Monday, seeks to limit the hours that protesters can gather at the ICE Processing Facility located at 1930 Beach Street and a nearby protest area at 2000 S. 25th Ave. from 9 a.m to 6 p.m. each day amid continuing clashes between federal agents and crowds.
“People have to go to work, they have to get their children ready for school, our businesses have to serve their customers, and our residents with developmental disabilities, who have sensory issues, have suffered emotional meltdowns because of the chaotic environment when protests get disruptive,” Thompson said in a statement.
Thompson said the order “seeks to balance the constitutional rights of protestors with the needs and safety of Broadview’s residents and businesses.”
She and other Broadview leaders have repeatedly called on ICE to “stop making war” in the west suburban village after agents have deployed pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters at the facility.
On Monday, a group of Chicago journalists and protesters filed a federal lawsuit claiming the federal agents had sought to violate their First Amendment rights through a “pattern of extreme brutality.”
Last week, Illinois State Police and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office constructed a designated protest area outside the facility and have begun deploying officers to the area. Broadview officials have also demanded the federal government remove an 8-foot fence they say was “illegally” put up outside the processing facility and last Friday they filed a federal lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order and the immediate removal of the fence they say blocks fire access.
Local authorities have made a handful of arrests in recent weeks, and Thompson said some demonstrations there have “escalated into unsafe situations.” According to the mayor, a “very aggressive” crowd of protesters shut down 25th Avenue and attempted to “take over” the I-290 on Saturday night.
“We had over 60 state troopers helping and we had to seek additional assistance from other local police departments who rushed to Broadview to help.” Thompson said. “And Broadview residents had to suffer through that mayhem.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
