On a brisk November morning in Broadview, Illinois, what began as a peaceful demonstration outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing facility quickly spiraled into chaos, marking another flashpoint in the ongoing saga of federal immigration enforcement in the Chicago area. More than 100 demonstrators, including faith leaders, gathered outside the facility at 1930 Beach St. on Friday, November 14, 2025, to protest President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign, known as "Operation Midway Blitz." Within an hour, the scene had devolved into shoving matches, injuries, and the largest number of arrests at the site since the operation began, according to the Department of Homeland Security and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
The protest, which started around 9 a.m., saw 21 demonstrators—including clergy—arrested by Illinois State Police and Cook County sheriff’s police. Four officers were injured in the process, with law enforcement blaming the escalation on about 50 protesters who left the designated protest area and unlawfully entered the roadway. "As members of the Unified Command were allowing peaceful protest in Broadview this morning, approximately 50 protesters decided to exit the designated protest area and unlawfully enter the roadway. As they were unlawfully assembling in the roadway, four officers sustained injuries while trying to redirect them back behind the jersey barriers," the Cook County sheriff’s office stated.
Eyewitnesses described a tense atmosphere as officers, equipped with batons and zip ties, repeatedly warned the crowd: "Stand back! Stand back! Stand back or you’re gonna go." The confrontation reached a boiling point when a Broadview police officer discharged a taser into the air as a warning. Several protesters were forced to the ground, and among those injured was Jillian Westerfield, associate minister at Lake Street Church in Evanston. Westerfield, who had come to support detainees, said, "We have spiritual care to deliver and our neighbors are being denied the right to their religious expression and to the small amount of comfort we might be able to deliver with communion or some other kind of support." She was pushed to the ground and suffered bruises in the melee.
Another protester, who wished to remain anonymous, reported being struck multiple times, sustaining injuries to her hand and head. Oak Park resident Sue Humphreys, 66, tried to call for calm as the situation escalated. "It’s clearly against the United States Constitution, clearly against the rights of the people. It’s wild and it needs to be stopped," she said.
Officials at the detention facility denied faith leaders entry to provide religious services, a point of contention highlighted by Westerfield. "Even though many of us don’t live inside Broadview, we are still neighbors and I do think that we belong there," she insisted, pushing back against Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson’s statement that blamed "out-of-towners" for the violence. Thompson called the injuries to officers "unacceptable and outrageous," stating, "I have repeatedly pleaded to protesters to raise their voices, not their fists. They have chosen their fists." Westerfield, however, maintained that she saw no raised fists or weapons among the demonstrators.
Federal agents were notably absent from the scene, and no tear gas, pepper balls, or chemical agents were deployed during the Broadview protest, a detail confirmed by Illinois State Police. However, the broader context in Chicago tells a different story. According to a joint investigation by WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times, federal agents have used tear gas and other crowd-control measures in at least 13 incidents across the city since the start of Operation Midway Blitz. In one harrowing account, Ricardo Aguayo Rodriguez, 54, was hospitalized after Border Patrol agents used pepper spray and physical force—including a chokehold—during an arrest in Melrose Park. His attorney, Brian Orozco, decried the agents’ actions as "ridiculous, excessive, inappropriate and not necessary," adding, "He didn’t attack them. He didn’t strike them or rush at them."
The aggressive tactics have drawn sharp criticism from legal experts and civil rights advocates. Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor and attorney for a group of protesters and clergy members, helped secure a court order restricting the use of chemical irritants and force against non-threatening individuals. Futterman characterized the Trump administration’s campaign as reminiscent of "authoritarian regimes," warning, "Everything that the federal agents have been doing as part of Operation Midway Blitz has been with the express purpose of assaulting our most fundamental freedoms in America."
Despite these legal challenges, Operation Midway Blitz continues. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, who oversaw the controversial operation, left Chicago on Thursday, November 13, after two months of heightened enforcement. His tenure saw a rapid increase in CBP agents on Chicago’s streets and a corresponding uptick in confrontations with civilians and protesters. Judge Sara Ellis recently imposed stricter limits on the use of force by federal agents, but sources told CBS News that some CBP agents are expected to remain in the area, and the operation is far from over.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security closed its command center at Naval Station Great Lakes in the northern suburbs, a move welcomed by local officials. North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. said, "The departing of DHS (and) ICE operations from Naval Station Great Lakes provides our residents, especially our Latino community, with a sigh of relief, but I am certain it does the same for Lake County."
Media coverage of the unrest has been intense. Fox News interrupted its regular programming to report live from the scene, with correspondent Garrett Tenney describing the protest as "a wild scene outside of an illegal immigrant processing center in Broadview, Illinois." Tenney noted the presence of "paid agitators" among the crowd, a claim echoed by federal agents in recent months. Fox anchor Harris Faulkner highlighted the escalating tensions and larger-than-usual turnout, noting that Chicago’s status as a "Sanctuary city within a Sanctuary state" may have contributed to the scale of the demonstrations.
The protests in Broadview were triggered, in part, by a federal judge’s order demanding the release of hundreds of migrants detained in the Chicago area, including those apprehended under Operation Midway Blitz. The order fueled hope among faith leaders and advocates, who gathered to celebrate the anticipated releases and offer spiritual support—only to be met with resistance from authorities.
Beyond Broadview, Operation Midway Blitz has left a trail of controversy. Over the past three months, agents in military-style gear have arrested not only undocumented immigrants but, at times, U.S. citizens as well. Two people have been shot—one fatally—and agents have been involved in at least eight car chases resulting in crashes. The rescinding of previous car-chase policies and the closure of internal watchdog agencies by the Trump administration have raised further concerns about oversight and accountability.
For many in Chicago, the events of November 14 are emblematic of a larger struggle over the future of immigration enforcement and civil liberties in America. As Futterman observed, "My fear is that it gets far worse before it gets better," but he also expressed hope in the resilience of the city’s diverse communities, who continue to "stand up and say we’re going to fight for America, we are going to fight for our Constitution, we are going to fight for the things that have made America special and all that it has aspired to be."
With Operation Midway Blitz ongoing, the debate over the balance between security and civil rights shows no sign of abating in Chicago—or the nation at large.
