Free speech is at risk in Broadview, Illinois.
The Village Board has approved two executive orders that limit when and where residents can protest near the local ICE processing facility:
- Executive Order No. 2025-01 — bans protests before 9:00 a.m. and after 6:00 p.m., effectively limiting the voices of folks with 9-5 jobs.
- Executive Order No. 2025-02 — restricts the area where protestors may gather, shutting them out from traditional public forums and limiting the protests’ size, visibility, and impact.
Troublingly, the EOs cite violence from federal agents as the reason for the restrictions. They claim ICE is "needlessly deploying" tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets, resulting in harm to reporters, nearby residents, and first responders.
Whether Broadview realizes it or not, restricting the speech of protesters due to fear of ICE agents using excessive force creates a heckler’s veto—one where the heckler, absurdly, is the federal government.
In other words, Broadview believes the best way to address the purported public safety threat posed by ICE's response to the protests is to limit the protests themselves. But limiting the voices of those who want to express their opposition to (or support of) ICE is not the answer.
The village’s burdensome restrictions, which neglect narrower, reasonable alternatives for crowd and traffic control, are an overreaction disguised as regulation.
The village must address public safety without "needlessly deploying" overly broad restrictions on free speech.
The First Amendment doesn’t clock out at 6 p.m. While the Village can impose reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on public demonstrations, it cannot excessively restrict speech in the name of public safety or because its message is controversial. And it certainly cannot curtail protests because federal law enforcement might overreact.
What happens in Broadview impacts all Americans. Protests in Broadview have attracted national media attention since its location enables demonstrators to congregate directly outside the ICE facility and on a nearby residential street. This small Chicago suburb has become emblematic of the national debate over immigration policies, attracting both anti- and pro-ICE protesters. If Broadview’s overreaching restrictions stand, they threaten everyone’s right to protest — left, right, and center.
FIRE stands for a simple principle: free speech belongs to everyone — not just to speakers who agree with those in power, and not just when it’s easy.
While Broadview is attempting to contain the ripple effects of the ICE protests, these executive orders set a dangerous precedent. Their burdensome restrictions violate the First Amendment, chill civic participation, and strike at the heart of America’s tradition of peaceful protest.
Demand that Broadview officials repeal these unconstitutional executive orders.
