Group of 14 'suburban moms' arrested during protest outside Broadview ICE facility
Sheriff's deputies removed a group of 14 suburban moms, as they call themselves, who were sitting in a circle in the middle of the road outside of the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility as a symbol of civil disobedience on Friday.
These are moms from across the western suburbs, they say. They are demanding an end to the "campaign of chaos," as they refer to the Department of Homeland Security's immigration enforcement operation "Midway Blitz."
Protesters say they are enraged by the terror being inflicted upon their communities. They say their friends, relatives, caregivers, and neighbors are living in fear, and people are being ripped from their lives and their families.
So, these moms want to use their "privilege as white women," they say, to amplify what is happening in their neighborhoods and throughout the Chicagoland area and mobilize their community to stand with immigrant families.
"It is worse than you can imagine out on the streets right now, and it is because of the federal immigration enforcement we're seeing every day. Our communities are living in abject fear, and it's time for people that look like us to take a stand and put our own physical bodies in front of those bodies, because it is unacceptable," said Ellen Toobin, who lives in Oak Park. "I hope that people can hear us inside. I mean, if you see absolutely horrific reporting of the conditions, we are here to stand with our friends and neighbors who have been abducted and terrified."
Toobin continued, "We are all upset seeing this. We need to get off our phones and onto the streets, because that is what is required at this moment."
At the same time, a caravan of about 20 cars drove by the intersection of Beech and Lexington outside the Broadview ICE facility. The participants honked their horns, with signs posted on their vehicles that said, "hands off Chicago," also in protest of the ongoing immigration enforcement. Click here for more.
