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Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons fired back at a progressive mayor who accused the agency of waging a war on her community and slammed "violent rioters" who he said have been "laying siege" to immigration enforcement operations in the Chicago area for weeks.
The ICE processing center in Broadview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, has been at the center of chaotic protests for weeks. Protesters have blocked law enforcement vehicles and shouted threats against officers. In response, federal law enforcement officers have repeatedly deployed riot control measures and made several arrests.
On Friday, Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to ICE Field Office Director Russell Hott last week in which she accused the agency of "making war" on her community and "endangering nearby village residents" with its response to the protests, WTTW reported.
In response, ICE accused Thompson of "distorting reality" and "pointing her finger in the wrong direction, while our officers are protecting her community — and others — from real threats, while also facing skyrocketing violence against them, including at the Broadview facility."
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The agency said that "in the past week alone, violent rioters have been arrested for assault and obstruction, and three of them were carrying loaded firearms to protest."
Lyons responded to Thompson with a follow-up letter this week in which he criticized her for heating up the rhetoric against ICE and enabling "agitators to escalate violence," placing federal officers and residents in harm’s way.
He said that repeated requests for assistance from state and local law enforcement, including the Broadview Police Department, have gone unanswered, forcing federal officials to take their own crowd control measures.
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"If our officers were provided the support they need, the crowd control measures referenced in your letter would not be necessary," he wrote.
He said that crowds have presented a direct threat to the lives of law enforcement.
"Chants of ‘shoot ICE’ and physical attempts to breach the Broadview facility cannot be dismissed as peaceful protest. They are direct threats to the lives of federal personnel and public safety," he wrote. "The relentless actions of these individuals—and their attempts to obstruct the enforcement of federal law — are unacceptable."
"These rioters are laying siege and interfering with legitimate law enforcement operations. Failure to help provide relief makes you a party to the obstruction of justice," he went on, adding, "You can either continue to be a part of the problem or choose to be part of the solution by directing your police to enforce local ordinances and working with us to remove violent offenders."
David Ormsby, a spokesperson for Broadview, dismissed Lyons' letter, telling Fox News Digital, "ICE's acting director must have used Grok AI to compose his letter, because it is full of hallucinations."
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