Demonstrators rally against ICE arrest of day laborer in Little Village: 'We're not alone'

BROADVIEW, Ill. (WLS) -- Dozens of people demonstrated together outside west suburban Broadview's boarded-up Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility on Saturday, calling for justice after federal agents arrested a man who supporters say was unjustly taken into custody.

"We're not alone. That's what they want us to believe. Right? That we're alone," said Geovanni Celaya with the Latino Union.

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Demonstrators say agents allegedly detained Willian Gimenez on Friday as he was entering a Little Village barbershop near Cermak and Washtenaw with his wife.

ICE confirmed that agents arrested Gimenez, saying in a statement, "There is nothing unjust about enforcing the law and ensuring this illegal alien adheres to the laws of the United States. ICE arrested Willian Alberto Gimenez Gonzalez for being in the country illegally.

Gimenez Gonzalez is an illegal alien with a history of not showing up to court, including when he failed to appear in immigration court in April of last year, where an immigration judge ordered him removed from the country. No one is above the law."

Gimenez's attorney describes him as kind, hardworking and someone seeking asylum in the United States.

"My client's detention and my inability to speak with him and to assure his well-being is intact is not a mistake. He is exactly who the administration fears and targets," said Kevin Herrera, Gimenez's attorney.

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The Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also issued a statement, saying, "Willian Alberto Gimenez Gonzalez, a criminal illegal alien from Venezuela, crossed the southern border illegally in October 2023 and was RELEASED by the Biden Administration into our country. His criminal history includes charges for trespassing. He was arrested by ICE on September 12, 2025, in Chicago and is in removal proceedings.

Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, if you break the law, you will face the consequences. Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S."

Gimenez's advocates say DHS has not notified them where exactly he was taken.

They say when they tried to find him at the Broadview processing facility, but immigration officials would not open the door.

"The community assembled here knows that people hold the powerful to account. We will fight for Willian and see to it that he is free to be with us in Chicago," Herrera said.

Advocates say Gimenez's arrest was not an accident, noting that he is reportedly outspoken against targeted arrests of day laborers allegedly carried out by Home Depot and off-duty Chicago police officers working as private security.

SEE ALSO | Home Depot stores, long a hub for day laborers, now draw immigration agents out on raids

"This is a chilling step and a political obsession to round up as many immigrants as they can, mostly hardworking, law-abiding people," said Rep. Chuy Garcia.

Gimenez's supporters, who say he is a day laborer himself, said he was denied due process, calling his alleged detainment an abuse of power and an act of retaliation.

"The Department of Homeland Security has become the department of state terror. The department that is responsible for protecting the people from foreign terror has become the department of state terror," said Rep. Delia Ramirez.

ABC7 reached out to DHS regarding the allegations made by Gimenez' advocates but did not immediately hear back.

Gimenez's attorneys say they plan to file a petition calling for justice in his case in the coming days.

Saturday's rally and press conference came after protesters gathered outside that ICE detention center on Friday, with video showing what appears to be pepper balls being used against some of the demonstrators that evening. Video also shows at least one demonstrator being dragged away.

RELATED | Broadview protesters demand release of Chicago mother detained by ICE during routine check-in

Demonstrations were also seen in other northwest suburbs on Friday night after an ICE agent allegedly shot a man to death in Franklin Park earlier in the day.

Federal agents say they were trying to make a traffic stop when Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, a man DHS says was undocumented with a criminal history of reckless driving, allegedly drove at the officer, dragging him in the process.

That's when, officials say, the officer fired shots, striking Villegas-Gonzalez, who later died at the hospital.

Cellphone video obtained by ABC7 shows the moment ICE officers removed the man from his crashed car near Grand and Elder Lane. ABC7 froze the video since it is too graphic to show.

DHS said in a statement, in part, "We are praying for the speedy recovery of our law enforcement officer. He followed his training, used appropriate force, and properly enforced the law to protect the public and law enforcement."

Villegas-Gonzalez' girlfriend and stepdaughter, who asked ABC7 not to show their faces, say he was a working 38-year-old father of three from Mexico who has lived in the United States for more than 20 years.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called Friday's events in Franklin Park troubling.

Some community members also spoke out at a vigil Saturday night where Villegas-Gonzalez was killed.

Meanwhile, a group of local Catholics gathered earlier Saturday for what organizers called a people's Mass outside Naval Station Great Lakes, which is hosting federal immigration agents as they carry out operations in the Chicago area.

The Mass, which began at 10 a.m., served as a peaceful and spiritual protest against the Trump administration's mobilization of ICE to Chicago, organizers told ABC7.

The event was hosted by the "Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership."