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Tear gas fills the air in Broadview, Illinois, on October 4. <\/span>Scott Olson\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Federal officers are <\/span>firing so much tear gas <\/span>at protesters outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, that some nearby community members who aren\u2019t even protesting are struggling to breathe when they leave their homes to run errands. <\/p>\n That\u2019s according to a lawsuit<\/a> filed this week by journalists and demonstrators who accuse the Department of Homeland Security of using \u201cextreme brutality\u201d to \u201cintimidate and silence\u201d them while they protest or report on protests outside the facility, about 12 miles west of downtown Chicago.<\/p>\n \u201cSnipers with guns loaded with pepper balls, paintballs, and rubber bullets are stationed on the roof of the Broadview ICE facility with their weapons trained on the press and civilians,\u201d the lawsuit states. \u201cFederal agents have tackled and slammed people to the ground; they have lobbed flash grenades and tear gas canisters indiscriminately into the crowd.\u201d <\/p>\n It continues: \u201cNo legitimate purpose exists for this brutality or for these arrests. The officers are not physically threatened. No government property is threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n Broadview\u2019s ICE facility is the main processing center for immigrants who are arrested throughout the Chicago area, and protests sprang up over the summer amid reports that it was holding people for longer than allowed in cramped and uncomfortable conditions; some protesters tried to block federal vehicles from driving out of the facility with detained immigrants.<\/p>\n In September, after the Trump administration expanded immigration enforcement in the Chicago area with \u201cOperation Midway Blitz\u201d\u2014an operation that has since led to hundreds of arrests and a militarized overnight raid<\/a> of an entire apartment building, terrorizing residents\u2014protests intensified. The lawsuit is filled with examples of people who injured by federal officers outside the Broadview facility. Here are a few from last month:<\/p>\n Federal officers \u201care acting to intimidate and silence the press and civilians engaged in protected First Amendment activities,\u201d the plaintiffs argue in the suit. Their attorneys are also seeking a temporary restraining order against officers.<\/p>\n On October 2, Illinois State Police used concrete barriers to demarcate a \u201cFirst Amendment zone\u201d outside the facility, asking protesters to remain inside the area to avoid violence from officers. Many protesters ignored the zone and protested on the other side of the facility. The next day, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was visiting, commended officers<\/a> for their \u201cprofessionalism\u201d and urged them to \u201chammer\u201d protesters.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not taking this anymore,\u201d she said. \u201cThe president\u2019s sick of it. I\u2019m sick of it. And we\u2019re going to give you guys all the authority that you need to go out there and arrest these individuals who are advocating for violence against you.\u201d<\/p>\n In Broadview, federal immigration officers have also harmed individuals who came to the ICE facility for business, according to the lawsuit: <\/p>\n \u201cThe relentless deployment of tear gas, pepper spray, and mace at the ICE facility is endangering nearby village residents, harming police officers, harming firefighters and American citizens exercising their First Amendment rights,\u201d Mayor Katrina Thompson said<\/a> in September.<\/p>\n The tear gas has a 200- to 700-foot radius when it\u2019s deployed, but wind carries it farther, the mayor said<\/a>. The lawsuit cites several Broadview residents who have struggled to breathe because of the noxious fumes, including Jose Juan Alvarado and his wife, who were \u201csickened and reduced to tears\u201d when they went to the grocery store.<\/p>\n Dimeko Harden, who lives a block from the ICE facility, has been unable to retrieve mail or \u201cengage in normal activities without experiencing pain and difficulty breathing,\u201d the lawsuit adds. \u201cShe has been forced to keep her teenage son at home, because he suffers from asthma.\u201d<\/p>\n On Monday, Thompson announced an order limiting protests at the facility from 9 am to 6 pm, citing the \u201cescalation of violence by ICE\u201d and the effect on residents. \u201cPeople have to go to work, they have to get their children ready for school, our businesses have to serve their customers, and our residents with developmental disabilities, who have sensory issues, have suffered emotional meltdowns because of the chaotic environment when protests get disruptive,\u201d she said<\/a>.<\/p>\n As the so-called Operation Midway Blitz continues, protesters elsewhere have also been met with harsh tactics. Last week, when federal agents approached<\/a> a Hispanic grocery store in Chicago, people started yelling at them and recording with their phones. According to the lawsuit, ICE officers called one protester a \u201cfaggot\u201d and, after someone blocked their SUV, fired tear gas into the crowd without warning. Children at a nearby elementary school had to move inside for recess. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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