Broadview’s mayor and police chief on Tuesday called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop using chemical agents on protesters and appealed for the agency to respond to several requests, including information about three criminal investigations the suburb has initiated that involve ICE agents.

“We are experiencing an immediate health safety crisis,” Broadview Police Chief Thomas Mills said at a news conference. “The deployment of teargas, pepper spray, mace and rubber bullets by ICE near the processing center in the Village of Broadview is creating a dangerous situation for the community and all first responders.”

Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson echoed the village’s police chief, saying the fumes from chemical agents deployed by ICE affect more than the immediate area.

“The gas clouds generally irritate people within 200 to 700 feet but the wind can carry it further,” Thompson said. She said Broadview’s first responders and nearby residents have both been impacted by the chemical agents, adding “it has to stop.”

The compound has been ground zero for protests since the Trump administration announced the launch of “Operation Midway Blitz” on Sept. 8, bringing a flood of federal immigration officers to the Chicago area to conduct raids and arrests. The administration has since called for 100 military troops to be sent to Illinois to help protect ICE agents.

Mills also said he sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Field Director Russell Hott via email and certified mail on Monday regarding three criminal investigations. He said Broadview police are investigating two hit and run accidents that are vehicle versus pedestrian incidents and one criminal damage to property incident involving a news reporter — believed to an incident involving someone shooting a pepper ball at a CBS 2 reporter Assal Razi on Saturday while inside her car.

Mills confirmed he received a response from Hott, who indicated that he would cooperate. He added that Hott also asked for cooperation from Broadview police regarding a few ICE vehicles that were damaged. However, Mills said he was only aware of one incident and said his police department already made a report about it.

Both Thompson and Mills pushed back on recent claims by the DHS that Broadview has been ignoring emergency calls from the ICE facility on Beach street, characterizing such claims as false.

“DHS claims that the Broadview Police Department has received and unanswered multiple calls for service from the ICE facility. That is totally false,” Mills said. “Our message from the beginning is that we will respond to every call for service.”

Thompson also said the DHS claims were “false,” adding that “our police log is clear, accurate and truthful.”

Both Mills, Thompson and Acting Fire Chief Matthew Martin also reiterated their demand that ICE take down a fence that it put up across Beach Street without permission on Sept. 23, calling it a public safety hazard.

Calling it an “illegally constructed fence,” Martin said “this fence is currently blocking access by the Broadview Fire Department to business on that road. In case of a fire or other emergency, our apparatus cannot use the road to get to the scene. Each day this fence remains, the risk of tragedy increases.”

Martin added that DHS has not responded to several requests regarding the fence. When asked if the Village of Broadview can remove the fence on its own, he said the village is considering all options.

Joining Broadview officials Tuesday was also Berwyn Mayor Robert Lovero, Oak Park mayor Vicki Scaman, Forest Park mayor Rory Haskins and former Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot, who said she was there as a private citizen to support Broadview’s Thompson as both a fellow Black female mayor and friend.