Activists protest outside a suburban ICE facility amid ‘Operation: Midway Blitz’

CHICAGO — Activists gathered outside of an ICE processing center in suburban Broadview early Friday morning for a protest as they look to slow down the immigration enforcement operation currently underway in Chicagoland.

On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security announced “Operation: Midway Blitz,” a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement effort focusing on Chicago and Illinois.

DHS officials said the operation was targeting “criminal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets.”

Friday’s 12-hour protest outside the Broadview facility was set to get underway at 7 a.m., but people had already begun gathering by 5 a.m.

By 7 a.m., the group had already had a confrontation with what appeared to be law enforcement agents.

WGN-TV crews spotted about a dozen agents in full camouflage and face masks removing protesters who appeared to have been sitting in the way of the driveway just moments before transport vans left the processing center.

Police were on scene and stood by as the agents removed the protesters.

The two groups also exchanged words, but that was the extent of the confrontation.

It is unclear where immigration officers will focus their efforts in the coming days.