West Cook News

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem just said her team was prevented from entering a government facility while traveling through suburban Chicago.

“My team and I were just blocked from accessing the Village of Broadview Municipal Building in Illinois,” Noem posted on X. “We were stopping for a quick bathroom break. This is a public building.”

“The Village of Broadview receives at least $1 million in federal funding every year,” said Noem. “This is how JB Pritzker and his cronies treat our law enforcement. Absolutely shameful.”

Anti-law enforcement protests have repeatedly broken out at the Broadview ICE facility, where officers in riot gear and gas masks have been deployed to control demonstrations, reported NBC Chicago.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) had fanned the flames of the protests earlier in the day when he said, “she (Noem) doesn’t even deserve to set foot in this state,” reported CBS News Chicago.

Federal agents recently announced the arrest of more than 800 individuals in Illinois in “Operation Midway Blitz,” which targeted criminal illegal aliens with violent histories, reported Chicago City Wire. Among those arrested in the operation was an illegal alien El Salvadoran rapist, in addition to a collection of felons from various countries with charges including sexual assault, drug possession, burglary, and homicide. 

“This is what we have to put up with every single day,” Noem said in a video posted on X. “All we’re doing is getting criminals and terrorists and heroin and gang members off the streets to make families safer.”

Noem was confirmed as Homeland Security Secretary in January 2025. She previously served as the governor of South Dakota from 2019 to 2025. Before her time as governor, Noem represented South Dakota’s at-large congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019, where she served on committees overseeing agriculture and armed services.