BROADVIEW, Illinois - Police arrested several people on Friday as hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in suburban Chicago that has been the focus of protests since a federal immigration enforcement surge began last month.

Tensions have been high in recent weeks in Chicago as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has ramped up his efforts to deport immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, arresting many without criminal records.

This week, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said the Trump administration had requested the Pentagon to send troops to the Democratic-run state.

Outside the detention facility in Broadview, behind barriers erected by ICE, protesters initially stood peacefully on Friday, singing Christian hymns and Jewish morning songs. Then Gregory Bovino, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection commander who is leading the federal enforcement effort in Chicago, arrived with agents in gas masks and armored vehicles.

Protesters began jeering and scuffling with police, some shouting obscenities.

Illinois State Police officers, some carrying rifles, night vision goggles and clubs, made several arrests, including of an elderly woman, who appeared to hyperventilate as she was shoved to the ground and handcuffed.

"It's outrageous. I'm just out here silently protesting and they're pushing us off the street and sidewalk and they're using violence against us," said Kevin Ryan, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate.

 An Illinois State Police spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ESCALATING PROTESTS

People in the Chicago area have staged repeated protests condemning the stepped-up federal presence, and the facility in Broadview, a majority-Black village about 13 miles west of Chicago, has become a focus of them.

On at least four occasions, about a dozen demonstrators sitting on the ground attempting to...