(CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS) – Immigration and Customs Enforcement leaders in Chicago canceled a meeting scheduled for Friday with members of Illinois’ congressional delegation.
Illinois’ Democratic members of Congress had asked for a meeting with ICE Chicago Field Office Director Russell Hott. They were seeking to learn more about ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s immigration enforcement operations known as Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area.
The congressional delegation first asked ICE for an oversight visit to the agency’s Broadview facility that houses many people detained in the Chicago area. ICE declined that request, according to a statement from the delegation, but instead agreed to hold a separate meeting with the members of Congress on Friday.
Friday’s meeting was rescheduled to an unspecified day in October, the delegation said.
Read more: Durbin hopes to meet with ICE this week about Chicago-area raids
An ICE spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ICE has previously denied Illinois’ members of Congress access to the Broadview facility. ICE established a new policy requiring members of Congress to provide seven days’ notice before visiting a facility after some members unsuccessfully tried to visit the facility in June.
Violet skirmishes once again broke out between protesters and Homeland Security agents at the Broadview facility in Chicago’s near west suburbs Friday. Agents shot pepper balls and tear gas at protesters, including many who tried to block DHS vehicles from entering or exiting the facility.
Earlier this month, federal agents briefly detained two U.S. citizens during a raid of an Elgin home while another agent shot and killed a man in Franklin Park. Body camera footage released this week cast doubt on DHS’ narrative about the shooting.
Mounting questions
State leaders say they still have many unanswered questions about the boarded-up Broadview facility.
“Oversight of this facility is desperately needed as legal service providers and our constituents have raised concerns about the poor conditions at Broadview,” the delegation said in a statement. “These reports allege unsanitary bathroom facilities; spreading illness; continued overcrowding; detainees sleeping on the floor or in chairs; a lack of access to food, water or hygiene products; restricted communications to family members and attorneys; and an inability to access medication.”
With Friday’s meeting canceled, the delegation sent a letter to Hott, the field office director, with a list of questions about ICE’s Chicago-area operations. They’d sent a similar one to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday. Friday’s letter also included several questions about the Broadview facility, including how detainees get medical services and access attorneys.
The letter also seeks answers about where else ICE is detaining people arrested in the Chicago area. The delegation wrote constituents have reported people being detained in Lombard, hotels near O’Hare and prisons in Indiana.
Gov. JB Pritzker released his own questions through the media for a second straight week, seeking broad information about DHS’ plans for Operation Midway Blitz.
“Illinois taxpayers deserve to know why the federal government is spending their hard-earned money to promulgate a state-sponsored fear campaign against our people instead of supporting public safety efforts,” Pritzker said in a statement.
Customs and Border Protection, another DHS agency that’s part of immigration work in the Chicago area, began piloting boats down the Chicago River. The CBP boats passed through downtown with several armed agents aboard, including CBP Chief Gregory Bovino, the Chicago Tribune reported.
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