International

CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement special response team officers shoot nonlethal chemical projectiles at protesters from the roof of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Ill., Friday, Sept. 19, 2025.

Zubaer Khan/Chicago Sun-Times via AP

Three protesters arrested as demonstrators block vehicle at key immigration building near Chicago

By The Canadian Press

Published 12:16 PDT, Fri September 19, 2025

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CHICAGO (AP) — Protesters tried to block vehicles Friday outside a federal immigration enforcement building in suburban Chicago, leading to a confrontation with authorities who arrested three protesters and used a chemical agent to disperse the crowd.

Dozens of people carrying American flags and signs with the words “Hands off Chicago” were at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Broadview, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) west of Chicago.

Three protesters were taken into custody, ICE Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to The Associated Press.

White clouds from a chemical agent broke up the group, allowing vehicles to arrive and depart, according to video posted online by local TV crews.

Andre Vasquez, a member of the Chicago City Council at the protest, described it as “tear gas, a little pepper spray, a little mix of both.”

ICE launched a new operation this month with a focus on traffic stops in largely immigrant and Latino neighborhoods and Chicago suburbs.

“They want us to be afraid,” Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, a Democrat, told reporters at the scene, referring to the Trump administration. “They want us to just kind of go into our little corners and not do anything. ... We’re not going to let that happen.”

Kat Abughazaleh, a congressional candidate who has joined protesters on several days, told the AP that she was thrown on the ground by federal agents and hit with tear gas Friday as she and other protesters stood arm-in-arm in front of a driveway, blocking a car.

Abughazaleh said officers dragged one of her friends away before others picked her up and threw her on the pavement. Abughazaleh said agents then used tear gas and pepper balls, causing her eyes to run and her throat to burn.

“Protesters were completely peaceful,” she said. “We had no weapons, just signs and songs. We were afraid and angry.”

ICE officials, meanwhile, described the protesters as “rioters” and accused them of assaulting law enforcement, slashing car tires and blocking the entrance of the facility. McLaughlin said local police refused to answer multiple calls for assistance from federal law enforcement.

The Broadview site is a two-story building that has been used to temporarily hold immigrants before they’re detained or deported. Its windows have been covered with wood boards for weeks. Protesters have regularly gathered there, including Catholic nuns who pray during vigils.

Activists and local leaders lately have stepped up pushback to the surge of immigration agents in the Chicago area, aiming to deter agents, warn residents and keep attention on a man killed by an immigration officer last week.

Authorities said agents were pursuing a man with a history of reckless driving who had entered the country illegally. They said Silverio Villegas Gonzalez evaded arrest and dragged an officer with his vehicle. The government said the officer fired because he feared for his life.

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Associated Press reporter Ed White in Detroit contributed to this story.

– Christine Fernando and Corey Williams, The Associated Press