CHICAGO.- The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Kristi Noemreported this Friday, October 3, that she and her team were denied access to a government building in Broadview, a suburb of Chicago, when they tried to stop to use the bathroom, amid strong protests against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE).
The situation, widely reported on social networks, adds to the growing political dispute between the administration of donald trump and the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker.
In a post on X, Noem harshly criticized the governor. “We were stopping to go to the bathroom. This is a public building. The Village of Broadview receives at least $1 million in federal funding each year. This is how JB Pritzker and his cronies treat our law enforcement. “It’s a shame,” he wrote.
“It’s crazy”
A video shows Noem requesting access to the municipal building with her staff, to which an employee responds from inside: “No, you can’t!”. The secretary, surprised, left without incident.
Broadview spokesman David Ormsby said Noem’s visit was unexpected and that she was looking to meet with Mayor Katrina Thompson, who was not there. Thompson later went to the ICE facility to request the removal of a perimeter fence, although he was unable to meet with the DHS official.
However, the federal agency rejected that explanation. “She didn’t ask for a meeting. She asked to use the bathroom. This is crazy.”declared to Fox News Tricia McLaughlin, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.
The episode occurred while protesters clashed with federal agents outside the ICE processing center in Broadview. According to Fox Newslaw enforcement arrested more than a dozen people after dispersing the crowd, which was trying to block immigration operations.
Clash between Noem and Pritzker
Governor Pritzker accused Noem of employing “heavy-handed” tactics that he says violate rights and traumatize migrant families.
“Illinois is not a war zone; it is a sovereign state where our people deserve rights, respect and answers,” he said in a statement, adding that the secretary “should no longer be able to enter the state without public accountability.”
The DHS responded harshly. ““Grow up and start protecting the people of your own state.”McLaughlin replied, accusing Pritzker of failing public safety and allowing “violent illegal alien criminals” to terrorize communities in Illinois.
