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By Dan Gooding and Hannah Parry
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A protest outside an Illinois U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center on Friday culminated in a Democratic congressional candidate being tossed to the ground, allegedly by an ICE agent, according to video from the scene that was posted to X.
Kat Abughazaleh, 26, a progressive Democrat who is running for Congress in Illinois, was taking part in the ICE protest outside Broadview Processing Center.
Footage then shows an alleged agent pushing her hard enough that she landed on the ground.
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"First off they shot pepper balls to the ground, and then said, 'Your First Amendment rights are on the sidewalk,'" Abughazaleh told Newsweek on Friday afternoon. "And then when we tried to get in the way of the van, they picked us up or dragged us away, for some people, shoved people. I was picked up and thrown."
Why It Matters
While on the campaign trail last year, President Donald Trump pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history.
Immigrants residing in the country illegally and legally, with valid documentation, including green cards and visas, as well as those in the process of obtaining legal status, have faced detentions.
Protests have been taking place in and around Chicago in recent days as federal agents have ramped up immigration enforcement in the city at the direction of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. While the department insists it is detaining the "worst of the worst," advocates have raised concerns that that is not always true.
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What To Know
The protest on Friday took place outside an ICE detention facility in Broadview, a neighborhood on the west side of Chicago. Among those taking part was Abughazaleh, who has attended other demonstrations at the facility in recent days.
In a video posted to YouTube two days earlier, the former journalist spoke about another experience of allegedly being thrown to the ground by DHS agents as she tried to stop vans outside the processing facility being used as the base of ICE action in Chicago.
Abughazaleh told Newsweek on Friday that federal agents took one protester away in chains, prompting a longer-than-planned protest.
"No one was violent. No one did anything that could possibly warrant being detained by federal officers. But they didn't care," she said.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responded by pointing a previous press release from Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
"The violent targeting of law enforcement in Illinois by lawless rioters is despicable and Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson must call for it to end," McLaughlin said. "The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line to protect the people of Illinois and all Americans."
Other local officials were also on the scene at the protest, including Democratic Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton and Democratic Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss—another congressional candidate.
Biss shared on X that federal forces used tear gas to move protesters away from the ICE facility, with video showing clashes between agents and those vocalizing their concerns about the conditions at Broadview.
DHS later said that "rioters assaulted law enforcement" and that it was protesters who threw tear gas. The department added that it had asked local police for assistance but was denied.
Abughazaleh told Newsweek that the facility is supposed to temporarily hold immigrants held by ICE, but they are being held for several days.
"There have been reports of pregnant women and grandmothers being forced to sleep on the concrete. They're not given beds or hygienic products, or hot meals, actual meals," she said.
DHS has said it is seeking out known illegal immigrant criminals in the city and surrounding area under Operation Midway Blitz, the latest in a series of campaigns aimed at what the Trump administration calls sanctuary cities that stand in the way of federal immigration enforcement.
Chicago is not alone in seeing locals clash with federal immigration efforts. In New York on Thursday, about a dozen Democratic officials were detained briefly following a sit-in protest at 26 Federal Plaza, an immigration court and processing facility.
Other sanctuary cities, including Los Angeles and Boston, have also seen demonstrations as the Trump administration continues to face resistance.
What People Are Saying
Kat Abughazaleh told Newsweek on Friday: "We care about our community. That's why we are there. That's we are standing up. That's why we will not be intimidated."
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, in a video on X on Friday: "I have to tell you, it was terrifying, it was impossible to breathe and really, really scary. The point is they are trying to intimidate us, to stop us from standing up and being part of a non-violent resistance, and we will not be intimidated."
Far-right influencer Laura Loomer, on X: "I love watching communists get body slammed by ICE. Communist and Palestinian. Pick a struggle. @KatAbughazaleh."
What Happens Next
Abughazaleh and others have vowed to keep protesting at Broadview while Operation Midway Blitz continues across Chicago.
Update 9/19/25, 1:33 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Update 9/19/25, 3 p.m. ET: This article and headline have been updated with further information and for clarity.
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