Pritzker: Noem should "no longer be able to step foot" in Illinois without accountability as she visits Broadview ICE facility
Gov. JB Pritzker said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem "should no longer be able to step foot" in Illinois without accountability "for the Trump Administration's gross misconduct" as she visited the Broadview ICE facility Friday.
Tensions over "Operation Midway Blitz" and immigration raids in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs have escalated as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have stepped up raids and detentions across the area.
Sources reported Thursday night that Sec. Noem would be in Illinois Friday, which prompted Pritzker to release his statement, writing in part, "Secretary Noem should no longer be able to step foot inside the State of Illinois without any form of public accountability."
"It's time she faces the public and takes questions from the press to be held accountable for the Trump Administration's gross misconduct," the statement continues.
Noem was spotted on the roof of the makeshift ICE detention center in Broadview, Illinois shortly before 8 a.m. Friday morning. She appeared to be filming something.
Shortly after, Pritzker posted on X.com in part, "It's been nearly 45 days since Secretary Noem has held an official press conference, so it's time she faces the public and takes questions from the press to be held accountable for the Trump Administration's gross misconduct. Illinois is not a photo opportunity or warzone, it's a sovereign state where our people deserve rights, respect, and answers."
A spokesperson for the Village of Broadview said Noem appeared at the Village Hall unannounced Friday morning and asked to meet with Mayor Katrina Thompson, who was out of the building at the time. So, the spokesperson said, the mayor tried to go to her.
"Since DHS Secretary Kristi Noem appeared this morning, unannounced, at Broadview's Village Hall asking for a meeting while Mayor Katrina Thompson was out of the building, the mayor returned her visit," the statement said. "Mayor Thompson went to the ICE center, accompanied by the Broadview Police Chief Thomas, and officers, to ask for the illegal fence to be dismantled. The mayor was told by agents at the gate the secretary was unavailable to meet."
More than 100 protesters were gathered outside the facility by the time the 9 a.m. press conference started. There were also dozens of uniformed Illinois State Police troopers on the ground, and fully uniformed and armed federal agents on the roof the facility, as has become the norm.
It has become particularly volatile around the Broadview facility, where community activists were joined by elected officials for a news conference to demand transparency and removal of a fence that DHS erected around the facility without village permission.
As hundreds of protesters were gathered outside, Noem appeared with Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino were spotted chatting outside, before getting into SUVs with tinted windows and leaving the facility.
Protests have been held regularly, and with increasing frequency, outside the Broadview facility since the beginning of September, boiling over into clashes between demonstrators and federal agents that have seen tear gas, pepper balls and less-lethal munitions deployed. A designated zone for protesters was established outside the facility Thursday night, with concrete barriers to keep the two sides from clashing in the middle of the street.
CBS News Chicago has reached out to DHS to try to find out what the purpose of Noem's visit to the Broadview facility was.