Officials have put new safety measures in place outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, establishing a designated protest zone, and setting up a restricted area between protesters and ICE.
Officials have put new safety measures in place outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview , establishing a designated protest zone, and setting up a restricted area between protesters and ICE.
Illinois and Cook County officials said they have set up a temporary unified command to coordinate public safety efforts outside the ICE facility in Broadview.Illinois State Police, the Cook County Sheriff's Office, the Cook County Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security, and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency have set up designated areas for protesters outside the facility, while leaving the street open for vehicles.Crews installed new concrete barriers Thursday night establishing the designated protest zones and restricted area outside the ICE facility.'The goal of the Unified Command is to protect the health and safety of all individuals, including nearby Broadview residents and businesses, and enable the peaceful expression of First Amendment rights. The agencies involved in this operation will neither assist nor obstruct enforcement of federal immigration statutes in compliance with state and federal law,' Illinois State Police said..Protesters complained when ICE put up a wire fence and gate in the middle of the street last week. New concrete barriers set up by state and county officials on Thursday night are aimed at preventing protesters and ICE agents from clashing in the streets by establishing a restricted area between the fence and the designated protest zones that Illinois State Police have called a 'First Amendment zone.''I don't understand why a First Amendment area is needed at all,' said attorney Robert Held, with the Chicago Council of Lawyers.Held has joined protests outside the ICE facility in recent weeks, and was detained by ICE for eight hours on Saturday before he was released without charges.He questioned if ICE agents would continue to fire upon those exercising their rights even if they stay in designated protest zones.'It's ICE that has actually been violating the law, by firing less-than-lethal weapons at peaceful demonstrators,' he said.The concrete barriers installed Thursday night will be used to keep protesters a safe distance from the ICE facility, but Held and the Chicago Council of Lawyers questioned how this effort will be enforced.'I don't think we need a First Amendment area. We need ICE to recognize that there is a First Amendment,' Held said.Illinois State Police said 'Uniformed officers will be on site to help direct people to the designated areas.''In addition to protecting the safety and rights of people peacefully expressing their views, these measures will also ensure that third parties that need access to the facility – including attorneys and legal representatives, people bringing medicine to detainees, and representatives from foreign consulates – will maintain clear points of access to the facility,' police said.Tensions between protesters and ICE agents have escalated multiple times in recent weeks. The majority of those clashes have taken place in the streets outside the ICE vehicles have been leaving or arriving at the facility, and protesters have tried to block their path.On Saturday, Held and other protesters were in front of the ICE gate on public land when agents sought to clear the area. Agents shouted orders for people to move.'I was backing up and filming what was happening, and eventually decided I needed to clear the street, and when I ran off the street, I was chased and arrested by federal authorities,' he said.Held continued filming as he was down on the ground, taken away in handcuffs, placed in a vehicle and taken into ICE custody.'The vehicle was driving back into the facility, and they stopped. They opened the door and Greg Bovino, the chief enforcement officer of the Border Patrol, looked straight at me and he said, 'Now what do you want to say to me?' I didn't respond to that, but my sense was – and it was pretty obvious based on his tone and language – that he was trying to show his authority over me,' Held said.Held said, before demanding the crowd clear the street, Bovino and a group of masked agents wearing body armor and helmets had opened a gate outside the ICE facility to disperse the crowd 'not to enforce any law, not for any immigration-related duty, or Border Patrol, or ICE, the FBI, the ATF, or anybody else.''He opened it for political theater. He had his own cameras running,' Held added.It remains to be seen if the new barriers and designated protest zones will eliminate clashes outside the ICE facility. 'It may be pretextual or otherwise unnecessary,' Held said.Illinois State Police said the new barriers came at the request of Broadview
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