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Kat Abughazaleh, the progressive candidate for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, accused Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of perpetrating “crimes against humanity” during a protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Friday, prompting DHS to strike back at the Gen Z activist.
A viral video of an ICE agent shoving Abughazaleh to the ground outside the Broadview ICE facility on Sept. 19 has become a flash point in the divisive debate over President Donald Trump’s deportation rollout as Republicans celebrate the crackdown on illegal immigration while Democrats reject ICE’s “unlawful and racist orders.”
“Dishonest, desperate and demonizing law enforcement to try to get 5 minutes on MSNBC and some fundraising cash,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital in a statement after Abughazaleh criticized Noem during a press conference Friday.
“Kristi Noem is here right now to ensure that her crimes against humanity continue unimpeded,” Abughazaleh told her fellow protesters outside Broadview. “We are here to make sure that does not happen. So, let us in, give us justice and tear this gate down.”
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Abughazaleh introduced herself on Friday as “one of hundreds of people who have been brutalized by ICE while protesting the inhumane conditions” at Broadview, which she described as a “war zone” where the government is “waging war on peaceful protesters.”
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McLaughlin accused Abughazaleh of putting “law enforcement at risk” in her pursuit to “obstruct justice” before she was shoved to the ground two weeks ago.
“You cannot say you are against political violence while celebrating American civilians getting beat up by masked federal agents,” former DNC Vice Chair David Hogg said in response to the video of an agent shoving Abughazaleh to the ground.
The congressional candidate, who went viral earlier this year for questioning why it’s controversial that illegal immigrants should have access to taxpayer-funded healthcare, demanded “transparency” Friday from DHS pertaining to “what is happening behind those boarded-up windows.”
“Over the last month, we have watched as ICE operates with impunity in Chicago,” Abughazaleh said. “They destroy homes, kill our neighbors and disappear hundreds in the name of unlawful and racist orders, and all roads of their crimes lead here to Broadview.”
Abughazaleh said the ICE facility, which Noem visited Friday amid another anti-ICE protest outside its gates, is a processing facility and should not hold people for more than 12 hours at a time.
“We have heard reports of people being held for days or weeks at a time without beds or hot meals or access to hygienic facilities,” she said. “We’ve heard of grandmothers and pregnant women sleeping on concrete floors of dozens of men in a single cell. I watched as detainees were marched into a van in the very same clothes they were detained in, and we have no idea how long they were there.”
Abughazaleh on Friday demanded elected officials be granted access to inspect the facility.
Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, long considered to harbor 2028 presidential ambitions, in a statement on Friday accused Noem of “snatching up families, scaring law-abiding residents, violating due process rights, and even detaining U.S. citizens.”
Pritzker said Noem “should no longer be able to step foot inside the State of Illinois without any form of public accountability.”
McLaughlin quickly fired back on Friday, telling Pritzker to “grow up and start protecting the people of your own state.”
“Federal law enforcement has to be here because JB Pritzker refuses to do his job and has allowed violent illegal alien criminals to terrorize Illinois communities for years,” the DHS assistant secretary said.
Illinois State Police armed with riot gear were present for crowd control Friday as dozens of protesters gathered outside the Broadview ICE facility.
Fox News cameras were rolling as more than a dozen protesters were arrested by federal agents.
Fox News’ Patrick McGovern contributed to this report.
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