A group of suburban moms were arrested in Chicago after peacefully protesting outside of an ICE facility.
The 14 women joined hands and parked themselves in the street in front of the Broadview immigration processing center on Friday, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
With ages ranging from 23 to 59, they faced charges of obstruction and disorderly conduct for staging the sit-in outside a designated protest zone.
‘We are here to stand with our friends and neighbors who have been abducted and terrified,’ said one mom.
Protests at the facility have ramped up as residents object to its treatment of detainees and the increased presence of ICE throughout the city.
The moms hailed from Chicago’s western suburbs. They called out the Department of Homeland Security’s ‘campaign of chaos,’ which they say is inciting fear in their neighborhoods.
They hoped to use their ‘privilege as white women’ to stand up for immigrants who could not do so for themselves.
‘Nothing is more important than the harm that is happening to people. We have to get people’s attention to notice what’s actually going on,’ Meg Thomas-Cary, witness to Friday’s protests, told NBC Chicago.
‘Someone sitting in the road is not doing harm – people being apprehended is harmful.’
A group of 14 suburban moms protest near an ICE facility in Chicago. They were later arrested
The women joined hands and sat in a circle outside of the Broadview processing facility
Members of the community seemed to support the moms’ actions. Some took to local Facebook groups to commend the women for their courage.
‘Thank you for continually showing up and using your voice. With you in spirit!’ wrote one commenter.
‘Heroic! Good on them for peacefully dissenting,’ added another.
‘These women are so inspiring!’ a third chimed in.
Their sit-in comes as a federal judge ordered DHS to improve the treatment and conditions for detainees at the Broadview center by last Friday.
The demand calls on the government to issue clean bedding, soap, towels, and adequate meals and water.
Protestors ridiculed ICE for its treatment of immigrants and DHS for its overwhelming presence in Chicago
DHS has repeatedly denied any inhumane treatment within the processing facility.
‘Despite hoaxes spread by criminal illegal aliens, the complicit media, and now an activist judge, the ICE Broadview Facility does NOT have subprime conditions,’ said assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement.
‘All detainees are provided with three meals a day, water, and have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers.
‘No one is denied access to proper medical care.’
On the same day, several church groups joined the moms for a prayer service. Some even attempted to deliver a letter that demanded access to the center in hopes of providing spiritual guidance.
‘Today, we are demanding that we have the opportunity to provide pastoral and spiritual care for those who are detained,’ Reverend Ciera Bates told the press.
The group was one of many that have been protesting ICE outside of the Broadview facility
Protesters have alleged inhumane treatment of detainees at the Broadview center
A caravan of 20 cars also drove by the facility that day, honking their horns and holding out signs that read ‘Hands Off Chicago.’
In early September, the Trump administration initiated Operation Midway Blitz, which forcefully targets immigrants in the Chicago area.
The government increased ICE presence in the city and has boasted more than 3,000 arrests in just two months.
Federal agents have been accused of aggressively grabbing people, deploying tear gas, and using excessive force, according to WGNTV.
DHS claimed the operation was to rid the city of ‘the worst of the worst’ criminals who entered the country illegally, though dissenters have claimed that many detainees had no criminal record at all.
