About 30 people protested at a busy intersection near the Louis Joliet Mall on Saturday to show opposition to President Trump’s plans to send National Guard troops into Chicago.

The demonstration was the latest of several held in Joliet in recent months to protest Trump Administration policies.

This one started at 5 p.m. at U.S. Route 30 and Mall Loop Drive and lasted a little more than two hours.

The protesters came out to show opposition to the likely deployment of the National Guard into the Chicago area and stepped-up deportation actions, said Tracy Curran with In Unison.

In Unison, a Joliet-area group, organized the Saturday protest and has been an organizer in the previous public demonstrations.

“This is a direct response to the deployment of additional field officers and agents conducting operations in our communities,” Curran said.

Curran and others at the protest said they believe expanded deportation operations extend beyond Chicago and into Joliet and the suburbs.

“We know that Trump has a plan to come to the Chicago area to target our Hispanic community – specifically around Mexican Independence Day and National Hispanic Heritage Month," said Silvia Onate of Joliet.

Mexican Independence Day is Sept. 16. A Mexican Independence Day Parade that has been held annually for more than 60 years will take place Saturday in Joliet. National Hispanic Heritage Month runs Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 and recognizes several Latin American nations celebrating independence in that period.

“They’re just trying to intimidate us,” Onate said of a threat of expanded deportation actions in the Chicago area. “They’re trying to make a statement with us and our people, and we are not OK with that. The people who can come out and show up, we are showing up.”

Protesters, however, acknowledged that the federal immigration crackdown is intimidating many people of Hispanic heritage, making them less likely to join public demonstrations or even leave their homes.

Onate was one of only a handful of Hispanic demonstrators at the protest.

Many of the protesters also objected to the threatened deployment of the National Guard in Chicago.

“Pitting our military against the American people, why?” asked Bob Woods of Joliet.

Kathleen Mirin of Romeoville said the president “is just tryng to normalize a Gestapo environment.”

The protesters received repeated honks of support from passing motorists along with occasional objections from some showing support for President Trump.