Deadline nears for removal of fence surrounding Broadview ICE facility

BROADVIEW, Ill. (WGN) — Federal officials have until the end of the day on Tuesday to take down a fence surrounding an ICE processing facility in suburban Broadview, as immigration enforcement operations continue in Chicagoland.

The fence was erected around the west suburban facility about three weeks ago by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). But it restricts access to Beach St,

something the Village of Broadview took the agency to federal court over last week.

A judge later agreed that the fence must come down because it created a public safety concern for first responders who tried to access the area.

A court-issued deadline for the fence’s removal was set for 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, but there were still no signs of removal by around 9:30 a.m..

The court-ordered teardown comes just a day after Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson issued an executive order placing new restrictions that shrink the size and scope of where the demonstrators are allowed to protest.

The mayor said that over the weekend, protests spilled out onto 22nd Avenue, about a block from the ICE facility. That created a dangerous situation, according to the mayor. Going forward, protestors will only be allowed on Beach Street, which is closer to the ICE facility.

The new restrictions were put in place just a week after Thompson signed an executive order that limited protests to a designated area only between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily.

The decision to further contain protests was not well-received by demonstrators.

“We care about what’s going on behind those walls,” one protestor said in part.

Elected leaders at all levels of government were at the facility Monday, praising the federal judge’s decision to grant, at least temporarily, the village’s request to bring the fence down.

“Without permission or collaboration with this community, this fence you see behind us has been standing here blocking the community’s access to its own streets and standing as a symbol of division,” Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said Monday. “It’s a symbol of Donald Trump’s contempt for this community and so many like it.

U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois’ 8th District also came to the Broadview ICE facility on Monday and attempted to gain access himself to check on a 15-year-old girl from his district, who he believes is detained there.

But Krishnamoorthi was denied, just like Illinois Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin last week, and told that because it’s a holding facility and not a detention facility, his rights as a member of Congress to gain access did not apply.

Krishnamoorthi disagreed with that determination.

“We have the right, without giving any notice, to inspect any ICE detention facility,” he said. “This particular Broadview facility, in my opinion, would qualify as a detention facility, whatever name they call it.

The Department of Homeland Security has appealed the judge’s ruling as the clock ticks on the teardown of the fence.