Freed detainee recounts unhealthy conditions, abuse at Broadview ICE facility

At least one person was arrested outside the Broadview ICE facility Sunday.

Jessica Bustos, a 36-year-old South Side resident who works with undocumented families, arrived early with her parents and daughter in tow. They came together because “Sundays are slower,” referring to lower tensions at the center.

They played Mexican music, leading nearly a dozen protesters at the scene about 11 a.m. to break into dance on the sidewalk bisecting the facility’s driveway.

“I’m trying to teach my daughter we need to protect our communities and to be proud of who we are,” Bustos told the Sun-Times. “I feel their pain. … It’s really sad we have to protect ourselves from this.”

Bustos’ parents gained citizenship over the course of 13 years, at a cost of nearly $25,000. They spent 13 of their 37 years of marriage apart because of the slow-moving immigration process.

“We want the rest of the people around here to be with their families and be happy again,” Bustos said.

But the celebration was halted abruptly as ICE agents streamed out of the gate to fire pepper balls at protesters attempting to block a car from leaving. An agent pushed a demonstrator to the ground after they shot him with the non-lethal rounds.

Minutes later, that protester was arrested while attempting to again block a vehicle. Shortly before he was cuffed, the protester — who declined to give his name — told the Sun-Times he had been to marches before, but he felt his participation at previous marches seemed “almost performative” at times.

He said he was “apprehensive” about trying to block the vehicle, but he overcame his hesitation because his feelings “weren’t important enough" to stop.

“It’s happening everywhere, so I’m not sure what the most efficient way to go about it would be, but it’s more efficient than doing nothing,” he said. “I know we’ve all got things to worry about, but it’s not gonna get any better, it’s just gonna get worse, so sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.”

It comes as HuffPost reports that ICE will be vacating the Broadview facility due to protests. But Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson told the Sun-Times on Sunday that she hadn’t been informed of any relocation plans.

Officials with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and Department of Homeland Security agencies didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

Several vehicles, including a bus and a U-Haul van, were seen coming and going from the facility throughout the day Sunday. Agents also came and went, to shouts of “traitors!” from the crowd.

A protester who was detained Saturday night was released after being held for five hours and came back to the detention center on Sunday afternoon to continue demonstrating. They were accused of “assault on officers,” and were interrogated about two vehicles that had slashed tires days ago.

The protester said they never touched an officer. They told the Sun-Times they think they were taken in for punching an ICE vehicle that almost struck them.

“The way they’re treating people, it’s showing people that when you’re in a uniform, you can do whatever you want,” they told the Sun-Times. “The more we let people run over us, the more it’s going to get worse," they said.

After being pepper-sprayed and thrown to the ground, they said they were slapped and called slurs inside the facility. They described the building as having floors full of dead bugs, and while they were kept separate from immigration detainees, they said somewhere between 30 and 50 people were being kept in a single dark room.

They said an agent admitted the facility had played a part in the deportation of a U.S. citizen.“People don’t want to go through this, they don’t want to be attacked,” the protester said.

“My fear is they’re trying to make examples of people like myself as a way to scare people,” they said. “But I’m here, and I’m not scared.”