Dozens protested outside an immigration processing center in Broadview on Friday morning as the mayor of the near-west suburb said in a letter to residents that Trump administration officials have told her and other leaders in town that a “large-scale enforcement campaign will soon be underway” and is likely to continue for about 45 days non-stop.
The protest precedes several other planned gatherings of immigrant groups and allies in the coming weeks, including at least one additional demonstration against the administration’s plans and multiple long-held celebrations for Mexican Independence Day this month.
The two-story brick Broadview building used by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency will be the “primary processing location” for the expected federal immigration incursion, according to the letter from Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson to residents.
The letter follows two weeks of threats and declarations from President Donald Trump and members of his administration that an influx of federal agents was set to arrive in Chicago. Trump has also said he has considered sending National Guard troops to Chicago to focus on crime in the city, even though crime numbers have declined in recent years. A deployment of ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents is expected to be more focused on the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on immigration.
Gov. JB Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and dozens of other mostly Democratic officials have vehemently voiced their opposition to any additional federal enforcement measures, especially the positioning of Guard troops on the streets of the nation’s third-largest city. Still, Pritzker and the others have said they expect an increased federal presence as soon as Friday or Saturday, when Mexican Independence Day festivities are expected to occur.
In the letter to Broadview residents, Thompson wrote that as the ICE facility is expected to serve as the primary processing location for the operation, it is also likely to be a location that will “draw protests and demonstrations, like those seen earlier this year in Los Angeles, where property damage and assaults against law enforcement were reported.”
“Our priority is to maintain transparency, protect the interests of our residents and ensure the vitality of our business community,” Thompson wrote.
The ICE facility, located at 1930 Beach Street, has been a magnet for protests for months and was the location of another protest on Friday morning.
One key issue about the ICE processing center is the length of detention for individuals there. It is designed to hold people for no more than 12 hours before transferring them to a formal immigration detention facility. But an investigation by the Chicago Tribune earlier this year found immigration detainees have been held there for days.
Despite the threat of immigration raids, major Mexican Independence Day celebrations in Pilsen and Little Village, two of Chicago’s predominant Latino neighborhoods, are expected to proceed as planned, community leaders told reporters Friday while also noting there will be some additional precautions.
The announcement came one day after organizers of El Grito Chicago, a two-day Mexican Independence Day festival scheduled for downtown Chicago next weekend, announced that the event would be postponed.
The Little Village parade, which is scheduled for next Sunday, Sept. 14, will have additional private security, immigration lawyers and a rapid response team for immigration rights, said Jennifer Aguilar, executive director of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce. The Pilsen parade this Saturday will have additional volunteers “maintaining vigilance” and keeping an eye out for immigration enforcement, according to Rigoberto Gonzalez, executive director of the United Merchants of Pilsen Chamber of Commerce.
The 54th annual parade in Little Village may see lower turnout, Aguilar said. Community leaders and elected officials speaking Friday in front of the iconic Little Village Arch cautioned people who may be worried about immigration enforcement to stay home if they feel uncomfortable, yet also encouraged community allies to turn out in support.
“If you show up, be proud but also be smart. If you fall into provocation, your family and your neighbors may pay for it,” said U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” García.
As a child, the Mexican Independence Day parade was the happiest day of the year, Aguilar said. She said she thinks it still will be this year, because it’s what the community needs.
“It’s an act of pride, an act of resistance during these times,” she said. “For me, it’s personal to move forward with the parade and to still let us have joy despite everything that is going on.”
Also in anticipation of stepped-up ICE enforcement and potential National Guard mobilization, a new coalition made up of progressive activists and labor unions has been formed under the umbrella title: “Hands Off Chicago.”
“Hands Off Chicago is a campaign to help Illinois residents get involved in pushing back against the military and ICE presence, download resources and stay connected to a community of other Chicagoans who are ready to defend our city and our neighbors,” Bob Reiter, the president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, said in a statement.
“This is going to be a challenging time. But one thing is for sure — we’re Chicagoans. We stick together and no one is going to intimidate us out of standing up for what’s right,” Reiter said.
In addition to the CFL, the coalition includes the Illinois AFL-CIO, progressive activist organization Indivisible Chicago, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights, Personal PAC, Equality Illinois and Sierra Club Illinois.
In announcing its formation, the coalition said it and its supporting organizations “are committed to nonviolent action” and that all of its supporters are expected to “practice non-violence and to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.”
Another group that includes a more progressive membership, including the Chicago Teachers Union and United Working Families, “The Coalition Against the Trump Agenda,” has scheduled a downtown rally and march at 5 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Ida B. Wells Drive and Michigan Ave.
The uncertainty over the federal government’s plans for Chicago led Pritzker to call off plans to join a state trade mission to Japan.
The trip, announced Friday, will take officials from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Illinois Economic Development Corp., a public-private partnership known until recently as Intersect Illinois, to a trade conference in Tokyo from Sunday through Tuesday.
“Team Illinois will have a strong presence at the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association’s Annual Conference in Japan to strengthen the state’s economic relationship with key trading partners and international businesses,” Pritzker spokesman Andres Correa said in a statement. “Gov. Pritzker and his team are supporting their efforts but will remain in the U.S. as the Trump administration threatens the state with unprecedented overreach.”
Chicago Tribune’s Dan Petrella contributed.