Chicagoarea mayor says federal agents teargassed him at a protest outside an ICE facility Alisha Ebrahimji, Emma Tucker, CNNSeptember 20, 2025 at 2:31 AM 44 Protesters clash with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, Friday, September 19.
- - Chicago-area mayor says federal agents teargassed him at a protest outside an ICE facility
Alisha Ebrahimji, Emma Tucker, CNNSeptember 20, 2025 at 2:31 AM
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Protesters clash with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, Friday, September 19. - Zubaer Khan/Chicago Sun-Times/AP
A Democratic mayor running for Congress in Illinois was teargassed Friday morning during a small protest outs ide an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in suburban Chicago, he said.
At least one other person, who identified herself on social media as Kat Abughazaleh, a former journalist also running for Congress, landed on the ground during the encounter after she was pushed by a federal law enforcement agent in a camouflage uniform wearing a full face covering, sunglasses and a helmet, video by CNN affiliate WBBM shows.
Abughazaleh has been attending protests for three weeks, she told CNN after Friday's incident, and learned last week people were being deported early in the morning.
So Abughazaleh and other protesters showed up earlier, she said.
"We stood in front of the van and they (an officer) came out and picked me up and threw me on the ground," Abughazaleh said, adding weaponless protesters carrying signs were met with federal agents firing pepper balls, of which she was on the receiving end.
"I got shot all over my body," she said.
The facility in the village of Broadview has drawn small protests since its leaders got word in early September "a large-scale enforcement campaign will soon be underway" as part of the sweeping immigration agenda that helped secure a second term for President Donald Trump but most Americans oppose.
The Midway Blitz Operation has resulted in nearly 550 arrests, according to Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security.
"Every arrest is a testament to DHS and its law enforcement's dedication to enforcing the laws of our nation. We will not be deterred by sanctuary politicians or violent rioters," McLaughlin said in a statement.
Marcos Charles, the acting head of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations, told The in an interview there is "not an end date in sight" for the operation. "We're going to be conducting this operation until we feel that we've been successful," Charles told AP, adding other agencies have helped federal agents in making the arrests.
ICE previously said the operation resulted in the arrest of hundreds of people the agency described as criminal illegal aliens, including Tren de Aragua gang members and those with prior criminal histories.
Kat Abughazaleh is thrown to the ground by ICE officers at the Broadview ICE facility in Illinois on September 19. - WBBMAt least 10 protesters arrested, group says
Daniel Biss, the mayor of Evanston, Illinois, spoke about the incident in a video posted late Friday morning to his X account, saying: "Not only did they come with weapons and violence, show of force and drive a van into us, but then they teargassed us, and I have to tell you, it was terrifying."
"It was impossible to breathe, and really, really scary," he goes on. "But the point is: They are trying to intimidate us, to stop us from standing up and being a part of a nonviolent resistance, and we will not be intimidated."
CNN has reached out to Biss' office.
Biss is the latest elected official to have a confrontation with law enforcement as some have joined protesters against increased ICE activity.
In Manhattan on Thursday, 11 state and local New York officials were arrested after they demanded access to an ICE facility, city officials said.
Other confrontations include New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander, who was arrested at Manhattan's immigration court in June; Newark Mayor Ras Baraka who was arrested in May after attempting to enter an immigration detention facility in the city; and Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver who was indicted on federal charges alleging she impeded and interfered with immigration officers outside the same Newark detention center.
Near Chicago Friday, more than a hundred people US Immigration and Customs Enforcement called "rioters" assaulted law enforcement, threw tear gas cans, slashed tires of cars, blocked the entrance of the building, and trespassed on private property, the agency said in a statement to CNN.
"Police under JB Pritzker's sanctuary jurisdiction refused to answer calls for assistance multiple times," according to the statement.
Federal agents arrested three people involved in the morning protest, according to the agency, which said its officers are facing more assaults this year compared to last.
"Throughout the morning, vans have shown up to pick up and drop off rioters," according to ICE. "This is an organized effort to obstruct ICE law enforcement."
By the end of the day, Federal agents had arrested at least 10 people involved in the protest, the reported, citing the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. Some people were injured and required hospitalization, Brad Thomson, an attorney with the guild, told the AP.
CNN has reached out to the National Lawyers Guild in Chicago for more information.
"I'm going to have a bruise up my side, but anything that we're dealing with out here doesn't hold a candle to … the people that are trapped in that facility are dealing with," Abughazaleh told WBBM, adding the altercations between police and protesters at the Broadview facility is nothing compared to what "the people that are trapped in that facility are dealing with."
"They aren't supposed to be there for more than 12 hours. They're being held for days or weeks at a time. We need to get it shut down," she told WBBM.
A Democratic mayor running for Congress in Illinois, Daniel Biss posted video Friday from a protest outside an ICE facility near Chicago where he said he was teargassed. - From Daniel Biss
CNN anchor and correspondent Maria Santana was reporting from the scene when she and her team were hit by pepper balls and tear gas that officers fired into the crowd. "At that time, I can tell you, it is very hard to breathe, very hard to talk, your eyes begin to water," she reported.
The Department of Homeland Security decried the protesters: "Desperate politicians want their 15 minutes of fame and they're willing to do it off the backs of our law enforcement," the agency posted to X on Friday morning atop a news broadcast video of a Chicago ICE protest. "They are putting them at further risk to get on TV, just to get a viral tweet. It's pretty despicable."
Recently, two ICE officers "had cars used as weapons against them," the agency said.
"The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line to protect the people of Illinois and all Americans," McLaughlin said.
Protests outside the Broadview facility continued midday Friday, with a handful of demonstrators holding up signs and cellphones toward a fence topped with barbed wire, video from the scene shows. They are expected to continue through Friday evening, WBBM reported.
Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, described the incidents at the facility as "deeply troubling," saying: "We have seen reports of people exercising their First Amendment rights being tear gassed, pushed, threatened and pepper sprayed by masked federal agents. Members of the press were also targeted with tear gas."
The board, he added, has passed a resolution calling out ICE for what Preckwinkle described as unlawful tactics such as "stopping people in unmarked cars, refusing to identify themselves, hiding their faces with masks and terrorizing our communities."
Evanston is a progressive stronghold and home to Northwestern University, about 15 miles north of Chicago's Loop and some 30 miles from Broadview.
CNN's Caroll Alvarado, Taylor Romine and Bill Kirkos contributed to this report.
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