If residents see federal immigration enforcement agents conducting stops and detentions, village officials encourage them to call 911 and report the incident, but, under state law, local police are prohibited from interfering with or participating in immigration enforcement.
In Riverside, officials on Nov. 6 addressed growing concerns over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in the region, where federal agents are stopping and detaining people at immigration hearings or on the street.
These detentions often occur with no warrants or reasonable suspicion of a crime and have heavily targeted Latino and Hispanic people. Many of them are United States citizens or have immigrated to the country legally despite widespread rhetoric that detainees may be in violation of immigration policy.
“We are all aware of immigration enforcement activity conducted by the federal government in the Chicagoland area and within our neighboring communities. This activity is of great concern to the village,” said Village President Doug Pollock. “Riverside and the Riverside Police Department remain fully committed to ensuring the safety, security and wellbeing of everyone who lives in, works in and visits our community.”
Riverside’s website now features a page with information on immigration enforcement and resources on knowing one’s rights when interacting with law enforcement. That webpage links to some frequently asked questions, which provide information on how to react if you believe you’re witnessing an ICE detention.
Pollock said most of the questions he and Riverside representatives have received have to do with how residents should respond to “activity that appears concerning and may or may not be related to federal immigration enforcement.”
“The answer is always the same: Call 911. If you see something, say something, and 911 is the way you say something,” he said. “It is important for residents to understand, however, that the Riverside Police Department is prohibited by law from interfering with or assisting federal immigration enforcement operations.”
According to the Illinois TRUST Act of 2021, local law enforcement agencies can neither prevent nor aid immigration enforcement. If a resident witnesses a detention in Riverside and calls 911, police will “protect the peace, deescalate confrontations, and, if appropriate, enforce Illinois and local laws,” but interfering with ICE detentions “may be considered obstruction of justice,” said Village Attorney Bob Pickrell.
Public Safety Director Matthew Buckley said village police officers are “trained in crisis intervention and deescalation tactics” but echoed Pollock and Pickrell’s point that police cannot prevent ICE detentions.
According to the online FAQ, immigration agencies do not notify Riverside police when they plan to operate in town, and Riverside will not immediately notify residents of confirmed federal agent activity, as “that may interfere with federal operations.”
Village records of such activity will be made available under the Freedom of Information Act, which requires government agencies to partially or fully disclose information upon request from a member of the public.
In an email to the Landmark, Buckley said no activity from ICE or other federal immigration agencies has been reported in Riverside this year. If the police were notified of such activity, “a report is automatically generated by our dispatch center and an officer is assigned to respond and investigate,” Buckley wrote, though there’s no way to access such reports except through filing a FOIA request.
In Brookfield, Village President Michael Garvey similarly invoked the TRUST Act in response to public commenters on Nov. 10 who asked the village to make efforts to protect community members from federal immigration enforcement.
“This is a public comment section. We can’t take any specific action tonight,” Garvey said in response to one commenter, Jonathan Platt, who had requested village staff or trustees work with members of the activist group Indivisible to inform residents on how they can protect neighbors.
“Our police department is briefed and aware of the Illinois TRUST Act and what obligations they have under Illinois state law. They are following those laws, and there’s regular briefings at every shift about that,” Garvey said.
Another public commenter, Beth Berendsen, asked the village to make a formal pledge against working with immigration enforcement.
“We’ve seen villages across the area start to take action: doing executive orders, resolutions, ordinances to really protect their neighbors by not allowing federal immigration agents to stage or process any enforcement activities on their village property,” said Berenson, citing policies in Berwyn, Oak Park and even at the county level. “We are all aware that these activities are not really about stopping criminals but harassing and terrorizing people based on their race and ethnicity.”
Police Chief Michael Kuruvilla told the Landmark no ICE activity has been reported in Brookfield this year, though, like officials in Riverside, he encouraged residents to call the police if they witness a suspected detainment.
“Police response would be very similar to how they would handle any other call for service or call for assistance. They’re going to be recording the incident by way of body-worn camera footage, and there will be a police report generated detailing and documenting what was learned through the response at that scene,” he said.
Kuruvilla said police communications to residents about perceived ICE activity “would probably be dependent on the type of incident and response that would be warranted.” He said the department could potentially notify residents of a call to police about such activity on a case-by-case basis.
Correction, Nov. 19, 2025, 12:00 p.m.: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of a public commenter in Brookfield. She is Beth Berendsen. The Landmark apologizes for the error.
