Police arrest immigration demonstrators in Ill.

April 27, 2010 1:15 PM ET

BROADVIEW, Ill. (AP) - Federal officials say deportations went on as scheduled despite a demonstration where protesters blocked traffic outside an immigration facility in suburban Chicago.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Gail Montenegro says protesters halted a van belonging to the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department in Wisconsin. It was carrying two detainees back to the county's jail.

Twenty-four protesters, many ministers and rabbis, were arrested Tuesday. Their goal was to stop deportations.

Twice a week, illegal immigrants processed at the center in Broadview are deported to Mexico on a flight from O'Hare International Airport.

Arrestee Tom Walsh is a director at the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. He says the protest was a powerful experience and believes the group at least stalled operations.


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