Broadview police conducting 3 criminal investigations into ICE activity at facility

BROADVIEW, Ill. — Broadview police are conducting three criminal investigations into actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at their facility in the western suburb.

Mayor Katrina Thompson held a press conference Tuesday, along with other Broadview officials and mayors of several other communities, to call on ICE to stop, what she says, are hostile actions by agents.

The village is also asking that a fence around the facility, which they say was illegally constructed, be taken down.

This comes on the heels of ongoing protests outside the processing facility where tensions have flared — leading to clashes between federal agents and protesters, along with chemicals being deployed.

Police chief Thomas Mills says he’s never been met with such hostility, even having been in the business for decades and working with federal authorities on previous investigations.

He says he was verbally assaulted. Mills says the village is experiencing an immediate public safety crisis.

“Our own Broadview police are repeatedly being exposed to ICE tear gas, forcing them out for an amount of time so they can decontaminate…which takes them out of service,” said Mills.

“Broadview residents, our Hispanic residents, our African American residents, our Asian American residents, our white residents are all begging for relief from high siege of our neighborhood and community,” said Mayor Thompson.

Broadview police say they’re conducting three criminal investigations into two hit-and-run incidents and a criminal damage to property report involving a news reporter.

They say they’ve asked The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for its full cooperation and told they can expect that.