Tear gas used on protesters at Chicago-area ICE site as immigration crackdown escalates

Federal officers in camouflage and riot gear clashed as demonstrators blocked vehicles in protest of Trump's expanding enforcement sweep.gas as they clashed with demonstrators.

Protests against the Trump administration's stepped-up immigration enforcement exploded Friday in the Chicago area, with federal officers in camouflage and riot gear using tear gas against the demonstrators.

Footage by NBC 5 Chicago shows federal agents deploying tear gas as protesters blocked a vehicle trying to exit the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, a Chicago suburb.

An NBC 5 Chicago reporter at the scene said the tear gas made breathing difficult and stung her eyes.

“Protesters were sprayed with those canisters, and then another canister was placed by our media trucks right on the grass there. So there was a huge disbursement of people," said reporter Jenn Schanz.

Bushra Amiwala, a candidate for Congress and former school board member who was at the site, said in a statement that her "eyes were full of pepper spray" and that agents "created chaos."