Congressional candidate thrown to ground, protesters tear gassed in clashes at Broadview ICE facility

Clashes between protesters and federal agents Friday outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview saw an officer shove a congressional candidate to the ground, agents firing tear gas and pepper balls into crowds and multiple arrests in a tense series of confrontations over President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign.

The demonstrations, which began about 5 a.m. and again at 7 p.m. and lasted for hours, drew dozens to the facility in protest of the intensifying federal operations in the Chicago area.

On and off throughout the day, armed ICE officers in military fatigues guarded the facility’s gate, while others stood on the building’s rooftop. Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol Chief who led the federal government’s recent anti-immigration operations in L.A., was at the detention center for about an hour and briefly stepped outside in the morning, backed by armed agents.

At one point, a protester popped the tire of an ICE van waiting to enter the facility’s gated parking lot as it appeared to carry one detainee. More unmarked vans, some carrying detainees, arrived during the evening while protesters chanted and jeered at the vans and the agents guarding the facility.

In a video circulating on social media, Kat Abughazaleh, a Democratic primary candidate running for the 9th District congressional seat, could be seen being shoved to the ground by an ICE agent wearing in full camouflage.

Abughazaleh told the Chicago Sun-Times she had been thrown to the ground twice by ICE agents and was helping another protester when an agent lifted her by her chest, carried her and threw her onto the asphalt.

“I wasn’t surprised, and that’s part of why we’re here,” Abughazaleh said. “Everyone here is at least a little bit scared, but mostly, I’m angry, and we need to get the facility shut down.”

ICE agents used tear gas and shot pepper balls throughout both demonstrations, hitting many protesters, including Abughazaleh and other congressional candidates and elected officials. A Sun-Times visual journalist was one of the many exposed to tear gas at one point.

At least two people were arrested during the morning protest and four more were detained later after clashing with ICE officers. Protesters said they haven’t seen the people arrested since they were taken inside the facility.

ICE did not respond immediately to specific questions about Abughazaleh, the use of nonlethal chemical agents and the status of the detained protesters.

In response to a video of Abughazaleh, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a social media post that people impeding ICE operations are siding with “violent criminals.”

“You will not stop [ICE] and DHS law enforcement from enforcing our immigration laws,” the DHS post said.

Late Friday night — about 90 minutes after several demonstrators were arrested — tear gas lingered in the air, making breathing a challenge.

State Sen. Graciela Guzmán (D-Chicago) used a bullhorn to try to communicate with six federal officers who looked down on the protesters from atop the Broadview facility.

“I am asking for the release of my two constituents as well as all of the folks that you have detained,” Guzmán said as dozens of protesters gathered behind her. “As a reminder, they are U.S. citizens exerting their freedom of speech as well as the right to protest.

“Could I just ask for a conversation with someone one-on-one?” she asked. “That’s all I’m asking for, respectfully.”

Guzmán repeated the request several times.

The officers, battle-clad and masked, did not respond, nor did anyone inside the building.

‘A little scared, but we’re still here’

Among the protesters were two Elgin sisters who have shown up at the facility every day this week in hopes of seeing their father, who is being held inside.

Milagros Pelayo, 22, and Yessenia Garcia, 16, said seeing others protesting against the treatment of immigrants made them feel seen.

Their father, Rosalio Pelayo Salgago, was detained at his home Sept. 10.

“We’re a little overwhelmed, a little scared, but we’re still here,” Pelayo said. “We’re still fighting, and the fight is not only now for us, but for other people like us and other people who have immigrant parents.”

Lane Faltin, 22, said protesters’ experiences during the demonstration paled in comparison “to what the people that are inside that building and the people that have been forcibly removed from this country are dealing with.

“It’s a disgusting abuse of power,” he said.

Tania Ramos, 25, arrived at the facility around 6 p.m. Friday.

The setting sun lit up tears streaming down her face as she spoke of her father inside.

“Vino, your daughter is here,” an activist yelled in Spanish through a bullhorn. “She says she loves you a lot.”

Ramos drove in Friday afternoon from Indianapolis after a midday call from her father, a scrap metal collector on Chicago’s Northwest Side who had been missing for hours.

“He said that somebody had called him to pick up metal,” she said.

But when he arrived at the location, Ramos said, there was no metal, just ICE officers.

“It was a trap,” he said.

The location was near Harlem Avenue and Talcott Avenue, she said.

Ramos, who spoke on condition her father’s full name not be published, said he arrived in the United States from Guatemala nearly 30 years ago and does not have a criminal record.

“He just had back surgery,” she said. “He had a bulging disc, so he’s been recuperating. He has a lung disease, and he also has diabetes and high cholesterol, so he takes a lot of medication every day.”

Ramos said she just wanted to “make sure that he has his medication and that he’s safe.”

Political contenders among the protesters

The protest attracted two other Democratic contenders for the 9th congressional District: Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and Bushra Amiwala, a member of the Skokie Board of Education.

Biss described ICE’s response as “a deliberate show of force and domination.”

“They were trying to intimidate and dominate,” Biss said in a phone interview Friday.

Biss recounted the scene “becoming chaotic quick” as he struggled for air after agents fired a chemical agent toward him and other protesters.

“At first, I was just feeling determined and grateful because there were so many people standing in solidarity, and at some point it got very scary,” Biss said. “When you can’t breathe, fear takes over.”

In a statement, Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson criticized Biss, saying his presence was endangering demonstrators, police officers and the surrounding community.

“Evanston Mayor and congressional candidate Daniel Biss’ repeated appearances and provocations at the ICE facility in the Village of Broadview, with his videographer and photographer in tow, are helping to fuel the agitation of an already tense situation, which could endanger our police officers, fire fighters, demonstrators themselves, and the surrounding Proviso Township communities,” Thompson said.

“He has lacked the decency and respect to call me or to notify my office when he comes to my community to engage in provocative campaign activities at the ICE facility,” she said.

Amiwala said in a statement she was in front of the crowd when the chemical agents went off.

“My eyes were full of pepper spray. It was hard to breathe, and these agents created chaos,” Amiwala said. “There was no justification for using such violence against peaceful demonstrators. What happened in Broadview today is an affront to our democracy.”

Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) also joined protesters in the morning.

“If this is how the federal government is treating people exercising their freedom of speech, the treatment of the people inside has got to be far worse,” Vasquez said.

“We’ve got a federal government actively attacking and dehumanizing its own people and our neighbors. I think [protesters] are going to stay here. The number is going to continue to grow, because we’re on the right side of history.”

Contributing: Tina Sfondeles, Lynn Sweet, Kade Heather