Derek Eder

Civic Tech Builder

« back to blog

The presence of ICE in Illinois destroys our peace

Published on Oct 8, 2025

U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Greg Bovino, flanked by DHS cameramen and drones, starts to march into a crowd of peacful protesters on Oct 3 2025 at the Broadview ICE facility. Photo by Kelly Hayes

U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Greg Bovino, flanked by DHS cameramen and drones, starts to march into a crowd of peacful protesters on Oct 3 2025 at the Broadview ICE facility. Photo by Kelly Hayes

On September 9, 2025, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began Operation Midway Blitz, ramping up immigration enforcement in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. A major staging area for this operation is located at an Ice Detention Center in Broadview, IL, a suburb about 10 minutes west of Oak Park, where I live and serve as a Village Trustee.

In the month since this operated started, unidentified, untrained and unaccounable Federal agents have killed an unarmed 38-year-old father, detained nearly every family at a 130-unit South Shore apartment in the middle of the night, violated consent decrees with warrantless arrests, deployed tear gas in neighborhoods, shot protesters in the head with rubber bullets, and detained elected officials without cause.

On October 3rd, I attended the protest outside the Broadview ICE facility, and witnessed firsthand unprovoked violence by Federal agents. It was at this time that Oak Park Township Trustee Juan Muñoz, also in attendance, was pulled down and detained by U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino for 7 hours without charge.

In response to these events, I joined with my fellow Oak Park Trustees in solidarity with Trustee Muñoz to denounce his detention, and call for ICE to leave Illinois for good.

Below is my full statement from the press conference held at Oak Park Township on Oct 6th, followed by a joint statement from Oak Park elected officials in solidarity with protestors at the ICE Detention Facility in Broadview, IL.

Good evening. I am Derek Eder, an Oak Park Village Trustee. I was at the Broadview ICE facility on the morning of October 3rd. I was wearing a helmet, ski goggles and an N95 mask, as I was told by others that were going to expect tear gas and violence from Federal agents. I am here to tell you they were right - that is indeed what I saw.

We arrived around 8:30am. Protesters were in their designated ‘free speech zone’ with state and local officers forming a barrier to keep a clear path for vehicles to exit the facility to harass and abduct our neighbors in Chicago.

Without any warning, at around 9:15am, I started to feel the sting of tear gas and witnessed a squad of Federal officers led by U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Greg Bovino, flanked by multiple cameramen and drones, march straight into the line of protesters. They pushed anyone in front of them and violently apprehended and detained anyone who fell down.

It was during this time that Trustee Muñoz and many others were detained as we were pushed back along Harvard street to the other side of 25th Ave to make way for an armored BearCat vehicle to drive through.

This unprovoked show of force seemed to have no strategic purpose other than to create a PR spectacle for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was visiting the ICE facility that morning.

As I reflect on this experience, I’ve started to think about peace and quiet. Something that everyone deserves.

I think about how our peace has been taken from us, and how none of us can afford to stay quiet about it.

The presence of ICE in Illinois destroys our peace. It is a violent, untrained, unidentified and unaccountable agency sent by a tyrannical administration to terrorize and silence us.

If you are watching this, don’t stay quiet. Join your voices to ours and demand that ICE leave our state and never come back.

Press conference at Oak Park Township on Oct 6th

Press conference at Oak Park Township on Oct 6th

Statement from Oak Park Elected Officials in Solidarity with Protestors at the ICE Detention Facility in Broadview

We, the undersigned Oak Park elected officials, stand in unwavering solidarity with residents who are peacefully exercising their constitutional rights at the ICE detention facility in Broadview. We condemn, in the strongest terms, the federal regime’s aggression and unlawful detention of peaceful protesters and elected officials—actions that strike at the core of our democracy.

On multiple occasions we have joined Oak Park residents to raise concerns about immigration enforcement at the ICE facility in Broadview. On both October 3 and September 27, what we witnessed was deeply troubling. On September 27, federal agents attacked peaceful protestors with tear gas, pepper spray, baton rounds, and pepper balls. On October 3, federal agents used disproportionate physical force against nonviolent demonstrators, including the battery, assault, and arbitrary detention of our elected officials. Among those detained this past Friday was Township Trustee Juan Muñoz, who was peacefully observing the protest. Multiple firsthand accounts confirm that demonstrators and observers remained nonviolent, yet were met with excessive physical aggression—slamming protesters to the ground, including an elderly woman and members of the press and clergy, shoving observers, and threatening mass arrests.

This behavior reflects a broader pattern of reckless endangerment by ICE agents across Chicagoland, including indiscriminate use of chemical weapons and baton rounds against peaceful protesters, bystanders, and even first responders. More than ten Oak Park officials have documented these troubling violations of First and Fourth Amendment rights at the ICE detention facility at Broadview, alongside urgent concerns about transparency, oversight, humane treatment, and due process for individuals in federal custody.

We commend the Village of Broadview for taking legal action to challenge the Department of Homeland Security’s unauthorized use of public property for federal barricades—an important affirmation that no agency, including ICE, is above the law.

We also join the State of Illinois and Chicago of Chicago in forcefully opposing the Trump Administration’s reported plan to federalize 300 Illinois National Guard members. Deploying military forces against Illinois residents is unnecessary, unlawful, and dangerous. Militarizing our neighborhoods does not enhance public safety—it only heightens fear and risk. We reject any attempt to use our government as a weapon against our people. This abuse of power is an attempt to silence dissent and suppress peaceful protest. We will not be intimidated or bullied into relinquishing our First Amendment rights.

Oak Park has long stood for equity, dignity, and justice. We will continue to uphold these values by protecting residents’ rights and advocating for fair, humane treatment of all people in our communities.

Signed,

Juan Muñoz, Oak Park Township Trustee

Vicki Scaman, Oak Park Village President

Annie Wilkinson, Oak Park Library Trustee

Chibuike Enyia, Oak Park Village Trustee

Brian Straw, Oak Park Village Trustee

Derek Eder, Oak Park Village Trustee

Jenna Leving Jacobson, Oak Park Village Trustee

Kristina Rogers, Oak Park Library Trustee

In solidarity,

Tim Thomas, Oak Park Township Supervisor

Holly Spurlock, D97 School Board

Colin Bird-Martinez, Oak Park Library Trustee

Kathleen Odell, D97 School Board

Susanne Fairfax, Oak Park Library Trustee

Becky Perez, D97 School Board

Eric Davis, Oak Park Township Trustee

Press

Want to get my next post in your inbox? Sign up for email updates

Email signup • derek@derekeder.com • © 2025 Derek Eder