() Some demonstrators at an immigration processing center west of Chicago are expressing concern that members of the Illinois State Police have been enlisted to keep protesters back, following recent volatile confrontations with federal authorities.

The office of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat at odds with the Trump administration, says the state officers are simply keeping protesters safe from overzealous feds while protecting their First Amendment rights. But some demonstrators say Illinois troopers are now effectively shielding the Immigration and Customs Enforcement outpost in suburban Broadview.

Previously, disruptors have blocked access to the ICE facility, prompting federal authorities to use crowd-control methods, such as tear gas, to disperse mobs. Over the weekend, the Illinois State Police has been moving crowds back with wooden batons, herding them behind concrete barriers that are meant to keep the street clear.

Protesters like Ranell Conine told they are confused by the disconnect between Pritzker’s public comments about the Trump administration and his use of state police to protect ICE.

“I think (Pritzker) needs to come and see the way that citizens are being treated and the way that our right to protest is being oppressed and challenged,” she said on Saturday.

A spokesperson for Pritzker said state authorities are not hiding behind masks in Broadview, in contrast with federal agents.

“They show their faces, they have proper identification, and they are accountable to the people of Illinois,” the spokesperson said.

Illinois State Police are working with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office and Broadview police outside the ICE facility and have arrested some protesters.

The Trump administration says demonstrators have put federal authorities in jeopardy as agents work to round up “the worst of the worst” undocumented migrants in the Chicago region.