As Operation Midway Blitz continues in Chicago, protestors clashed with police and federal agents outside a Chicago-area immigration detention facility over the weekend.
A small group of protestors returned to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Monday after chaotic scenes erupted between police and protestors on Friday.
A now-viral video captured an Illinois Democratic congressional candidate caught up in the mayhem. She tried to block an immigration vehicle and then landed on her butt after officers pushed her out of the way, prompting the usual leftist victimhood and outrage toward immigration enforcement.
Trump administration officials have turned the tables back on sanctuary politicians and organized agitators for disrupting law enforcement operations.
“These rioters in Illinois are fighting to keep rapists, murderers, and other violent criminals loose on Chicago streets,” said Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in a news clip shared on social media. “Instead of rioting, they should be thanking ICE officers who every single day wake up and make our communities safer.”
These rioters in Illinois are fighting to keep rapists, murderers, and other violent criminals loose on Chicago streets. Instead of rioting, they should be thanking ICE officers who every single day wake up and make our communities safer.@TriciaOhio pic.twitter.com/5CPfV9EKyR
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) September 22, 2025
DHS launched Operation Midway Blitz, a coordinated immigration enforcement effort to go after the “worst of the worst” in Chicago on Sept. 8. The ICE effort has resulted in almost 550 arrests in Chicago area, and the ICE operation is ongoing with no “end date in sight,” local outlet Lake & McHenry County Scanner reported.
Marcos Charles, the acting executive associate director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, said 50-60% of the arrests were targeted arrests in which ICE had been searching for that specific person.
After Friday’s protests, DHS shared a statement over the weekend, saying in part: “Secretary Kristi Noem’s message to rioters is clear: you will not stop us or slow us down. ICE will continue to enforce the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Fox News’ Mike Tobin reported from the scene Monday, saying the protestors were using vulgar language while heckling agents as they arrived for work.
In Tobin’s news clip, Gregory Bovino, Border Patrol Commander Op At Large, who supported immigration operations in the Los Angeles area but is now on the ground in Chicago, noted:
“Perhaps Governor Pritzker would do well to realize the danger that his law enforcement officers are in every day because he chooses illegal aliens over American citizens,” he said. “He chooses to allow illegal gang members by the thousands into Chicago and Illinois. That’s the real danger.”
In another social media post, Bovino said these elected representatives are setting their constituents up for failure by encouraging violence because they are the ones who pay the price for getting arrested for assault on a federal officer.
Reckless rhetoric by elected officials only emboldens violence against law enforcement officers. Assaults on our agents will have legal consequences.#USBP #DHS #CBP #OpMidwayBlitz pic.twitter.com/cCFj5Xi8T0
— Commander Op At Large CA Gregory K. Bovino (@CMDROpAtLargeCA) September 22, 2025
“Reckless rhetoric by elected officials only emboldens violence against law enforcement officers. Assaults on our agents will have legal consequences,” Bovino said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also visited Chicago last week to see operations on the ground, sharing a video on social media with the caption: “We will not back down.”
We will not back down. pic.twitter.com/iPRSFgTaMs
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) September 18, 2025
DHS officials said that over 100 rioters surrounded the Broadview Processing Center on Friday, which led to clashes with police and federal agents.
Fox News Digital footage from the scene shows protestors trying to block vehicles from leaving and protestors trying to charge the gate.
Kat Abughazaleh, an activist, former reporter and Democratic candidate for Congress, posted a video to her X account on Friday, saying, “This is what it looks like when ICE violates our First Amendment rights.”
Mask wearing Illinois Congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh (D) just got BODIED by ICE after trying to f*** with them
Immediate FAFO pic.twitter.com/0CR6Bsj8wK
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 19, 2025
The video showed federal officers forcibly removing Abughazaleh, who is also wearing a mask, from the front of an ICE vehicle that she tried to block. Other agents tell Abughazaleh and other protesters to get out of the way of the vehicle.
One agent pushes Abughazaleh, who falls to the ground. She immediately gets back up and charges the agents, who again push her back. Other protesters can be heard taunting the agents and shouting expletives.
Later, during an interview with a reporter, Abughazaleh claims no responsibility for her role in the situation, saying “They almost ran someone over. We did not move. We stood strong and that’s when they brought out the pepper balls. That’s when they brought out the tear gas.”
McLaughlin accused Abughazaleh of seeking attention and attempting to “obstruct justice.”
McLaughlin told Fox News Digital, “This fame-hungry, cable TV candidate is so desperate for her 15 minutes of fame that she will go so far as to put our law enforcement at risk and obstruct justice.”
As the confrontations continued, ICE officers used tear gas, flash bangs and pepper bullets to disperse the crowd.
At least 16 people were arrested after they assaulted law enforcement officers and threw rocks, bottles and fireworks at ICE agents outside the facility. They also slashed the tires of cars, blocked the entrance of the building and trespassed on private property, DHS said.
The confrontations are related to the Trump administration’s ICE operations in the city. Detainees are being taken to the Broadview facility for processing, and protestors remained on the scene throughout the weekend.
ABC7 News reported that tensions remained high outside Broadview Sunday night but the crowd stayed mostly peaceful. Families of detainees were hearing their loved ones may be move to other facilities out of state.
At least one published report suggests DHS is looking to possibly stop using the facility and move to a different location, ABC7 reported. The DHS statement on Sunday refuted that, saying “Any allegations that ICE Broadview Processing Center is temporarily closing is FALSE.”
As of Monday, local outlet Block Club Chicago reported organizers are calling for people to host daily protests at the Broadview facility to resist ICE’s immigration enforcement activity and put pressure on the administration to shut the facility down.
Throughout Friday morning, vans arrived to pick up and drop off rioters, DHS said, adding “This is an organized effort to obstruct ICE law enforcement.” In addition, Chicago police under Governor JB Pritzker’s sanctuary jurisdiction refused to answer multiple calls for assistance, DHS said.
It’s a remarkable thing to watch many Democrats go all in on resisting, and in some cases, abolishing ICE after an election in which Democratic handling of the border/immigration was a key issue & where Dems lost every battleground state + saw TX border counties flip blue to red.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) September 19, 2025
Bill Melugin, a Fox News correspondent who reported for months from the southern border during the Biden-era border crisis, posted on X Friday during the clashes: “It’s a remarkable thing to watch many Democrats go all in on resisting, and in some cases, abolishing ICE after an election in which Democratic handling of the border/immigration was a key issue & where Dems lost every battleground state + saw TX border counties flip blue to red.”
