In a statement, village spokesperson David Ormsby said Noem appeared "unannounced" at the Village Hall "asking for a meeting while Mayor Katrina Thompson was out of the building." Thompson, Ormsby said, was instead on her way to meet Noem at the ICE facility.

"Mayor Thompson went to the ICE center, accompanied by the Broadview Police Chief Thomas, and officers, to ask for the illegal fence to be dismantled. The mayor was told by agents at the gate the secretary was unavailable to meet," Ormsby said. "Additionally, we are distressed to hear that the bathrooms are unavailable at the ICE facility.”