Courtesy of Robert HeldThe protest took place on the one-year anniversary of the first violent clash between protesters and agents at the suburban facility during Operation Midway Blitz.
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BROADVIEW — Federal agents pepper sprayed at least 10 protesters during a demonstration outside the Broadview immigration processing center Saturday, the one-year anniversary of the first violent clash between agents and demonstrators at the facility.
Protests have been taking place at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility at 1930 Beach St. in Broadview every Saturday since last fall, when the building became a flash point during Operation Midway Blitz.
The facility, where people arrested during the sweeping immigration enforcement campaign were brought, regularly saw clashes between protesters and federal agents during Operation Midway Blitz last fall. Though the operation ended late last year, protesters have continued to show up at the Broadview center for demonstrations that have largely been quiet and peaceful in recent months, they told Block Club.
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But on Saturday, a large group of masked agents gathered in the facility’s gated parking lot to the surprise of protesters, who were accustomed to lower enforcement activity over the weekends. The agents were throwing an outdoor barbecue, said Nana, a protester and documentarian who preferred not to share her real name for safety reasons.
“They had a barbecue back there behind the fence,” she said. “When we started counting we realized that there were a lot more agents than there are on a normal Saturday.”
Between noon and 2 p.m. Saturday, agents periodically opened the gates to yell and aim their pepper spray canisters at the roughly two dozen protesters on Beach Street, some of whom were blocking the facility’s driveway. Around 2:30 p.m., a large group of agents left the parking lot and sprayed at least 10 protesters with high-powered mace that “gave people more trouble than normal pepper spray,” Nana said.
Broadview Fire Department personnel responded to the scene and brought two protesters to a nearby hospital, village spokesperson David Ormsby dijo a NBC Chicago.
Nana saw agents testing out tasers in the parking park lot of the facility, though no tasers were used during Saturday’s protest.
Robert Held, an attorney and participant in the Broadview protests, told Block Club that at least two women were also shoved to the ground by agents Saturday. Some protesters stood in the driveway at different points throughout the day in an attempt to block agents’ vehicles from exit, he said.
“When it’s time for protesters to move, masked agents in what appears to be combat gear shouldn’t forcefully shove women to the ground,” Held said. “They shouldn’t use industrial-sized mace against people essentially exercising civil disobedience.”
Held can be heard questioning an agent about escalation tactics in a video shared with Block Club.
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“We’ve asked people multiple times to get out of the driveway,” a masked agent tells Held in the video. “I’ve tried my best to be very respectful. I hate that she had to get sprayed, but this has been going on for an elongated period of time. … I understand you guys have your First Amendment rights, you’re exercising your right to protest … At the same time, we cannot allow that to go on.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told Block Club that protesters were blocking the facility’s driveway:
“Officers relied on their training to gain control of the situation,” the spokesperson said. “Within the hour, BSSA [the Broadway facility] was cleared without further incident.”
Saturday’s demonstration comes exactly a year after protests began escalating outside of the Broadview facility during Operation Midway Blitz.
Sept. 19, 2025 was the first instance where less-lethal weapons were deployed on protesters at Broadview. A number of demonstrators tried to block the entrance to the facility, with federal agents responding by throwing tear gas, firing pepper balls and physically assaulting protesters.
The incident came roughly one week into Midway Blitz as the Broadview facility became one of the main sites of protest during the operation. Despite the violent encounter, ICE officials said they can’t find records on agents’ use of force during the Sept. 19, 2025 incident.
