With an eye on ICE, Broadview village board approves restrictions on detention centers
The village of Broadview approved changes to its zoning laws, enacting further restrictions on prisons and detention centers following widespread protests at its Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility late last year.
The Broadview zoning board backtracked Monday, recommending the village board approve the proposal after initially suggesting rejecting the proposal. The plan restricts prisons and detention centers within 1,000 feet of residential areas, school districts, day care centers, cemeteries, park districts, forest preserves, senior-living facilities and public housing.
Five trustees, including Mayor Katrina Thompson, voted to approve the proposal, and Trustee Judy Miller abstained. One trustee was absent from the meeting.
Zoning Board Commissioner Jorene Gordon said she and much of the zoning board misunderstood the proposal and changed their minds after receiving clarification as to its impact.
“I found that I didn’t have as full an understanding as I thought I did,” Gordon said in recommending that her colleagues on the village board approve the measure.
Under the new rules, any new prisons or detention centers would also require a special-uses permit and be barred from operating less than 1,000 feet away from other prisons or detention centers. There are also requirements relating to fencing, gates and parking.
Thompson said ongoing protests outside the Beach Street ICE facility interrupted residents’ lives. She said the new restrictions and special-use permit requirement would hopefully prevent that in the future.
“These impacts directly implicate the village's core responsibility to protect public health, safety and welfare because the village's existing zoning laws were cited on these types of facilities,” Thompson said.
The proposal was initially recommended after reports that the Trump administration was searching for locations to expand federal immigration operations in the Chicago area. The proposal won’t change operations of the current ICE facility, but any new prisons or detention centers would have to abide by the zoning laws, an attorney for the village of Broadview said.
The public comment section of Monday's village board meeting was moved from before the vote on the zoning proposal to after the board’s closed session, which some attendees said deterred them from speaking. One young person stood with a sign that read: “In no world is my future made brighter because more prisons were built.”
Ian, a resident of Wheaton who has been an active protester at the Broadview ICE facility and didn’t give his last name to protect his privacy, said he wanted to voice his opinion on the proposal but it felt less useful after the vote was taken.
Ian had attended the zoning board meeting in December and felt confused and frustrated about what the proposal entailed and how the board had voted. But after Monday’s meeting, he said he felt more at ease.
“The fact that they wanted to keep us in the dark about what this meant just felt like they were not operating with transparency,” he said.
Board Trustee Patricia Chao-Malave addressed the board and the public through tears, explaining that her vote to approve was informed by her experience as a public servant and Latina.
“Please trust that my vote and intention is to advocate for what is best for my community,” she said before voting yes.