In the months following the advent of the second Trump Administration, the federal government stepped up federal civil immigration enforcement in communities around the country, including the Chicagoland area. These enforcement activities have become increasingly violent and dangerous, creating increased public opposition to these tactics.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center in Broadview, IL, has been a focal point of this opposition and has become the site of peaceful, constitutionally protected activity for decades, Over the summer of 2025, as a result of reports of inhumane conditions for detainees inside the facility, protesters have gathered to demand the closure of the facility. These protests have been peaceful and non-threatening.
Federal officials and agents have responded to these protests by attempting to brutally suppress free speech at the site through intentional and escalating violence, including the dangerous and indiscriminate use of near-lethal weapons such as tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper-balls, flash grenades, and other repressive tools.
Protests against harsh enforcement tactics also arise in neighborhoods where federal agents operate. As protesters voice their demand that immigration enforcement agents leave their neighborhoods, they are met by pointed weapons and tear gas.
We joined a coalition of legal organizations to challenge these attacks on First Amendment activity. Our clients include media organizations and reporters who have been attacked as they attempted to report on the activity both at Broadview and around the Chicagoland area. We also represent clergy and protestors who have been hit with pepper balls and tear gassed simply for gathering new the Broadview site to protest ICE activity.
On October 9, 2025, a federal court granted our motion for a temporary restraining order that barred federal officers from using pepper balls, chemical agents and other projectiles at Broadview and throughout the Chicagoland area unless there is an imminent threat of physical danger to federal forces – which the court said had not been present during the indiscriminate use of force prior to the lawsuit.
On October 21, we filed an amended complaint that included people protesting against ICE tactics in Chicago neighborhoods when federal agents deployed pepper balls or tear gas against them. We also filed a motion for preliminary injunction seeking further protection for protesters, clergy, and members of the press as the litigation moves forward.