West Cook News

Kristi Noem, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said that her team was blocked from entering a federally funded public building in Broadview, Illinois, and criticized Governor JB Pritzker's treatment of law enforcement. The statement was made on X.

"My team and I were just blocked from accessing the Village of Broadview Municipal Building in Illinois," said Noem. "We were stopping for a quick bathroom break. This is a public building. This is how JB Pritzker and his cronies treat our law enforcement. Absolutely shameful."

An incident involving Noem’s team at the Broadview Municipal Building drew national attention after local officials denied entry during a visit to the nearby Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. According to ABC7 Chicago, the village later filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security and ICE over an unapproved safety fence, while Illinois officials condemned the confrontation and urged clearer coordination between federal and local authorities.

The Village of Broadview, Illinois, has received recurring federal support for law enforcement and municipal programs. According to USAspending.gov data, the village’s police department obtained a $250,000 grant in 2020 under the Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program, part of broader federal allocations aimed at improving public safety infrastructure and staffing at the local level.

Tensions between Illinois officials and federal law enforcement have surfaced in prior disputes. According to AP News, Governor Pritzker publicly criticized federal deployments of security personnel to Chicago, while the Department of Homeland Security issued rebuttals defending its enforcement strategy. These confrontations reflect long-standing friction over federal jurisdiction and state oversight.

Noem currently serves as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and previously held office as South Dakota’s governor and as a member of Congress. According to the Department of Homeland Security’s official biography, Noem's leadership emphasizes border security, ICE cooperation, and state–federal law enforcement coordination as priorities for maintaining national safety.