Share and Follow
BROADVIEW, Ill. (WLS) — Protesters remained in the vicinity of ICE’s Broadview processing facility all day Sunday, though they are now in a much reduced number.
Meanwhile in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, an ICE scare outside a local church led to a tense day for parishioners and brought out a large response from neighbors determined to keep parishioners safe.
Also, there were strong words Sunday from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker about the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown in the Chicago area.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
It was just after 8:30 a.m. when a woman named Julie looked out her Rogers Park window to see Border patrol agents interrogating a man stopped right in front of St. Jerome Catholic Church.
“I think they’ve been casing the church… the mass times are down,” Julie said. “I think they’ve been casing the church. There was somebody up there the other day who got picked up. They’re in this neighborhood for a reason.”
With a Spanish-language mass going on at that hour, Julie and her partner alerted the priest, along with several others in the neighborhood who took it upon themselves to make sure people were able to leave the church safely.
“I felt really badly for them,” Julie said. “They were inside, scared to come out. I can understand why.”
SEE ALSO | Chicago federal intervention: Tracking surge in immigration enforcement operations | Live updates
She and others were back again for Sunday evening’s bilingual mass.
“The goal here is not to create any conflict, but actually to create a safe space,” volunteer Angie Guinn said.
Parishioners said they’re unnerved, and not just because of what happened Sunday.
“Right now, nobody wants to come out, because they don’t want to be deported,” parishioner Jorge Quiroz said.
The Archdiocese of Chicago did not comment on the incident, but on CNN, Cardinal Blase Cupich spoke on the ongoing raids.
“Yes, we surely have the need for a state to provide safety for people and also secure its borders, but let’s not forget that human dignity also has to be preserved,” Cupich said. “Many of these people who don’t have documents have been here for a long time and contributing to society.”
Meanwhile on ABC’s ‘This Week,’ Governor Pritzker addressed the courts’ decision this week to stay the administration’s attempt to deploy National Guard troops across the area, even while an appellate court ruled those already here were allowed to stay in Illinois while the appeals process plays out.
“Look, we’ve gotta rely on the courts to do the right thing,” Pritzker said. “I realize that sometimes that’s risky business, especially when some have been appointed by Donald Trump. But we’ve seen that even a Trump-appointed judge out in California has ruled against the administration.”
Vice President JD Vance hit back at Pritzker, also on ‘This Week.’
“We’re trying to help him and we’re trying to help the residents of his biggest city,” Vance said. “I wish that he would let us, because he certainly isn’t doing the job himself.”
In Broadview, the fence cutting off Beach Street where the ICE facility begins was still up Sunday, but not for much longer. A judge ruled it must come down by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.
READ MORE | Broadview protest arrests, dropped charges influenced ruling to bar National Guard deployments
