As Illinois congressional delegation seeks answers, ICE cancels meeting
[September 27, 2025]
By Ben Szalinski
Immigration and Customs Enforcement leaders in Chicago canceled a
meeting scheduled for Friday with members of Illinois’ congressional
delegation.
Illinois’ Democratic members of Congress had asked for a meeting with
ICE Chicago Field Office Director Russell Hott. They were seeking to
learn more about ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s
immigration enforcement operations known as Operation Midway Blitz in
the Chicago area.
The congressional delegation first asked ICE for an oversight visit to
the agency’s Broadview facility that houses many people detained in the
Chicago area. ICE declined that request, according to a statement from
the delegation, but instead agreed to hold a separate meeting with the
members of Congress on Friday.
Friday’s meeting was rescheduled to an unspecified day in October, the
delegation said.
An ICE spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
ICE has previously denied Illinois’ members of Congress access to the
Broadview facility. ICE established a new policy requiring members of
Congress to provide seven days’ notice before visiting a facility after
some members unsuccessfully tried to visit the facility in June.
Violet skirmishes once again broke out between protesters and Homeland
Security agents at the Broadview facility in Chicago’s near west suburbs
Friday. Agents shot pepper balls and tear gas at protesters, including
many who tried to block DHS vehicles from entering or exiting the
facility.
Earlier this month, federal agents briefly detained two U.S. citizens
during a raid of an Elgin home while another agent shot and killed a man
in Franklin Park. Body camera footage released this week cast doubt on
DHS’ narrative about the shooting.
Mounting questions
State leaders say they still have many unanswered questions about the
boarded-up Broadview facility.
[to top of second column]
|
U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, a Chicago Democrat, is pictured at a news
conference in Springfield in 2022, when she served as a state
representative. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki)
“Oversight of this facility is desperately needed as legal service
providers and our constituents have raised concerns about the poor
conditions at Broadview,” the delegation said in a statement. “These
reports allege unsanitary bathroom facilities; spreading illness;
continued overcrowding; detainees sleeping on the floor or in chairs; a
lack of access to food, water or hygiene products; restricted
communications to family members and attorneys; and an inability to
access medication.”
With Friday’s meeting canceled, the delegation sent a letter to Hott,
the field office director, with a list of questions about ICE’s
Chicago-area operations. They’d sent a similar one to DHS Secretary
Kristi Noem on Tuesday. Friday’s letter also included several questions
about the Broadview facility, including how detainees get medical
services and access attorneys.
The letter also seeks answers about where else ICE is detaining people
arrested in the Chicago area. The delegation wrote constituents have
reported people being detained in Lombard, hotels near O’Hare and
prisons in Indiana.
Gov. JB Pritzker released his own questions through the media for a
second straight week, seeking broad information about DHS’ plans for
Operation Midway Blitz.
“Illinois taxpayers deserve to know why the federal government is
spending their hard-earned money to promulgate a state-sponsored fear
campaign against our people instead of supporting public safety
efforts,” Pritzker said in a statement.
Customs and Border Protection, another DHS agency that’s part of
immigration work in the Chicago area, began piloting boats down the
Chicago River. The CBP boats passed through downtown with several armed
agents aboard, including CBP Chief Gregory Bovino, the Chicago Tribune
reported.
Capitol News Illinois is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government
coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily
by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. |
