Chicago area center in Trump's immigration crackdown sparks complaints
of inhumane conditions
[September 26, 2025]
By SOPHIA TAREEN
CHICAGO (AP) — A boarded-up building in a small Chicago suburb has
become the front line of a federal immigration crackdown, with growing
accusations that the facility meant to process arrestees is a de facto
detention center plagued by inhumane conditions.
The Trump administration has targeted the Chicago area for its latest
immigration enforcement surge touting hundreds of arrests in the past
three weeks.
Relatives, lawyers and activists are concerned by immigrants' accounts
of what happens once they are inside the brick building in Broadview.
Once routine protests outside the building have grown in recent weeks,
with federal agents using chemical agents and physical force to push
protesters back.
Advocates say up to 200 people are being held there at a time, with some
held up to five days in a space that doesn’t have showers or a
cafeteria. Immigrants report they are being given little food, water and
limited access to medication. Communication, including with attorneys,
is limited.
“It’s a black hole,” said Erendira Rendón of The Resurrection Project,
which has received requests for legal help from nearly 250 arrested
immigrants. “You can’t call the center. You can’t talk to anybody.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday called the claims
on the conditions false, adding that “detainees are briefly processed"
before they are transferred.
Questions loom over center
Broadview, a suburb that's home to about 8,000 people, has also been the
site of the federal immigration processing center for decades. Located
along an industrial corridor, the facility has frequently prompted
peaceful protests and become the scene of tearful goodbyes before people
are deported.
But questions surrounding its use have grown since President Donald
Trump returned to the White House promising mass deportations.
Illinois has among the nation’s strictest sanctuary laws, widely barring
cooperation between local police and federal immigration agents,
including for detention.
The state effectively banned immigration detention in 2021, when it
ended local cooperation agreements between the federal government and
county jails. Illinois barred private detention in 2019 following failed
attempts to build a new detention facility and there are no federal
immigration detention centers in the state.
Illinois officials have alleged for months that immigrants are held at
the processing center for days and told to sleep on floors, including in
the bathroom.
U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia was part of a group of Illinois Democrats
who tried to tour the facility in June.
“We pointed out that this has been a processing center, but in fact
people who have been in detention there for multiple days have shared
with us that it in fact is a detention center,” he said. “It is not
adequate to be a detention center.”
Limited food and crowded quarters
Brenda Perez said her husband was arrested this month by ICE agents on
Chicago’s South Side while he heading to work as a mechanic. She
eventually confirmed he was at Broadview when she saw him on a social
media video shot outside the center.
In brief calls, he told her he couldn’t sleep because there were too
many people to lay down. He reported going 24 hours without food.
“He would beg them for food and water because he was hungry and very
thirsty and they would just ignore him,” she said, crying. He was later
taken to a Michigan jail.
Immigrant rights advocates also claim the Trump administration is trying
to make conditions unbearable so that people agree to self-deport.
Authorities are trying to expand detention space in nearby cooperating
jails, including in Indiana.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility officers stand guard
outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025.
(Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Giselle Maldonado, 23, said her two uncles were held at the
Broadview facility for two days last week before they were deported
to Tijuana, Mexico.
Maldonado described the conditions as “ugly,” and contributed to
them signing deportation papers quickly rather than advocating for
themselves.
“It was crowded,” she said. “They wouldn’t feed them right. They
wouldn’t give them water when they asked for water. These bright
lights were on 24/7, and they couldn’t sleep.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has denied recent tour
requests due to “operational security.” While the agency publishes
how many people are in detention centers, the Broadview processing
center isn’t listed.
Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary at DHS, rejected claims
of “subprime conditions” Thursday and said the facility isn't used
for detention.
“Detainees are briefly processed before being transferred to
detention facilities,” she said. “All detainees are provided with
proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to
communicate with lawyers and their family members."
Clashing with the community
The center has created headaches for village leaders. While the
community about 12 miles (19.31 kilometers) from Chicago is small,
its businesses can draw as many as 55,000 workers.
Members of Broadview's 25-officer police force are increasingly
diverted to the center to help manage protests.
Tensions have flared in recent weeks. Protesters have blocked
vehicles, and federal agents have responded with aggressive tactics,
including deploying chemical agents and physical force. Armed guards
patrol the roof.
“We have this processing center in our town and it creates fear,”
said Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson.
The Department of Homeland Security has defended its tactics, citing
danger to federal officers and characterizing the arrestees as
“rioters.”
Federal officials initially gave Thompson a heads up that the center
would be used as the “primary processing location” for the
operation. But communications have since been limited, including
ignored requests to be informed if chemical agents would be used.
Federal officials have boarded up windows on the building, which
prompted city reviews of building codes. After protests became
tense, federal authorities erected a fence overnight that extends
onto a public roadway.
Village officials demanded the “illegally built” fence be removed
over security concerns from the fire department. It remained in
place on Thursday.
The office of the Mexican consulate is among the few entities in
communication with authorities overseeing the Broadview facility.
They’ve helped Mexican nationals who are detained get medicine.
Ambassador Reyna Torres Mendivil, the consul general of Mexico in
Chicago, declined to discuss specific details, citing diplomatic
process. But she said that the ramped up immigration enforcement
circumstances prompting fear among Mexican nationals are
unprecedented.
“The suffering we are seeing is considerable,” she said.
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Associated Press reporter Christine Fernando contributed to this
report.
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