Federal law enforcement officers and protestors opposing the Trump administration's ramped up immigration enforcement in Chicago clashed Friday near the Windy City.
Some of the demonstrators made attempts to prevent government vehicles from departing a detention facility in Broadview, Ill., where migrants are held for processing. Federal agents responded by firing pepper balls and tear gas as tensions escalated.
The administration kickstarted its immigration mission in the Chicago area, dubbed "Operation Midway Blitz," this month, looking to detain and deport those who are in the country illegally.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sought to pin blame on the protestors for the escalation.
DHS said more than 100 protestors "surrounded" the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center, saying the demonstrators "assaulted law enforcement, threw tear gas cans, slashed tires of cars, blocked the entrance of the building and trespassed on private property."
At least three people were arrested, according to DHS, which added that local police "refused" to answer "multiple" calls for help.
"Throughout the morning, vans have shown up to pick up and drop off rioters. This is an organized effort to obstruct ICE law enforcement," the administration added. "Our ICE enforcement officers are facing a more than 1000 percent increase in assaults against them. Disturbingly, in recent days, two ICE officers' have had cars used as weapons against them."
Protestors and advocates in the area have raised concerns about the conditions at the holding facility, demanding that the migrants be freed.
One demonstrator held up a sign that said, "Let Our Neighbors Go." During the clash, protestors could be heard hurling insults toward law enforcement cars that tried to leave the facility, according to videos from the scene.
Bushra Amiwala, who is running to replace outgoing Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) in the House, was at the site and said she got tear-gassed.
"There was no justification for using such violence against peaceful demonstrators," Amiwala said in a statement, according to NBC News. "What happened in Broadview today is an affront to our democracy."
Daniel Bliss, the mayor of Evanston, Ill., slammed the agency's actions as "a performance in brutality."
"They are trying to send a message of public violence and oppression," Bliss said on Friday, according to The New York Times. "Our job is to resist it as visibly, vocally and aggressively as we can while staying nonviolent."
So far, ICE's operations in Chicago, which have been opposed by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) and other Democrats in the state, have led to nearly 550 arrests, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said on Friday.
"The violent targeting of law enforcement in Illinois by lawless rioters is despicable and Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson must call for it to end," McLaughlin said in a statement. "The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line to protect the people of Illinois and all Americans."
She rattled off names of Democratic politicians she said have contributed to "the surge in assaults of our ICE officers through their repeated dehumanizing and demonization of ICE."
That list included House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz (D) and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D).