White House plans to use Chicago-area Navy base for DHS crackdown
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Trump asks military base near Chicago for support on immigration opera…
Department of Homeland Security asked Naval Station Great Lakes for support. The base is 35 miles north of Chicago. The request came weeks after the Republican administration deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. City leaders say they are preparing for multiple possible scenarios, from troops assisting in immigration arrests to patrolling in the streets.. Former President Barack Obama, who is from Chicago, weighed in Thursday, posting on X: “The erosion of basic principles like due process and the expanding use of our military on domestic soil puts the liberties of all Americans at risk.” Former President Joe Biden’s transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, said in a post on X that he never imagined the station could be used for surveillance and enforcement activity on American soil.
The Department of Homeland Security asked Naval Station Great Lakes for “limited support in the form of facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs to support DHS operations,” Matt Mogle, spokesperson for the base 35 miles north of Chicago, said Wednesday.
The request came weeks after the Republican administration deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to target crime, immigration and homelessness, and two months after it sent troops to Los Angeles.
Although details of the administration’s plans for Chicago are scarce, city leaders said Thursday that they are preparing for multiple possible scenarios, from troops assisting in immigration arrests to patrolling in the streets.
“We don’t want to raise any fears,” Police Superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters. “We don’t want to create any speculation around what’s going on.”
Chicago leaders want more communication
City leaders said Thursday that the White House hadn’t contacted them about its plans, and a spokesman for the Illinois National Guard said the base hadn’t received requests regarding a Chicago mobilization.
Mogle, the base spokesman, said no decisions had been made on the request, and that the base hadn’t received an official request to support a National Guard deployment. The Chicago Sun-Times first reported on the request to the Navy base.
DHS did not confirm whether it had asked to use the base. But it said in a statement Thursday that it was working to make “our streets and cities safe again.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have pushed back against a possible mobilization, saying crime has fallen in Chicago and that the city doesn’t want or need the military’s help. They are planning to sue.
City leaders said workers were circulating know-your-rights cards in neighborhoods with heavy immigrant populations, which offer tips on what to do in case of an encounter with an immigration agent. Other workers were checking in on Chicago’s homeless encampments and providing information about shelters since Trump has pushed to move homeless people far from Washington.
Snelling asked for more communication on plans involving law enforcement.
“To make sure that we’re not stoking fears through neighborhoods and we don’t have people running scared and it doesn’t create chaos on our streets, we’re willing to have those conversations,” Snelling said.
Many Chicagoans are on edge about the rumored deployment. Former President Barack Obama, who is from Chicago, weighed in Thursday, posting on X: “The erosion of basic principles like due process and the expanding use of our military on domestic soil puts the liberties of all Americans at risk, and should concern Democrats and Republicans alike.”
Former President Joe Biden’s transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, a former U.S. Naval Reserve intelligence officer who trained at Great Lakes, said in a post on X that he never imagined the station could be used “for surveillance and enforcement activity on American soil. Our military was not set up to cater to the whims of a would-be American dictator.”
The politics of a deployment
Trump admin reportedly floats plan to use Chicago-area naval base to aid federal operations
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The Trump administration has requested that a military base near Chicago be available to provide support for immigration operations in the area, according to local media reports, signaling a possible escalation in President Donald Trump’s plan to expand federal law enforcement to other major American cities.
Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois’ largest military installation and training station, could soon house agents with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to an email Navy Capt. Stephen Yargosz reportedly sent to his leadership team Monday.
“These operations are similar to what occurred in Los Angeles earlier this summer. Same DHS team,” Yargosz wrote in the email cited by the Chicago Sun-Times, which first broke news of the request Wednesday (neither MSNBC nor NBC News has reviewed the email). “This morning I received a call that there is the potential to also support National Guard units. Not many details on this right now. Mainly a lot of concerns and questions.”
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Matthew Mogle, a spokesperson for the base, declined MSNBC’s request for comment and referred questions to DHS and ICE. Mogle did, however, tell NBC Chicago that “Naval Station Great Lakes has been approached by the Department of Homeland Security regarding a potential request to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.”
When asked about its plans for the naval base, DHS provided a statement that did not address those reports.
When Trump announced plans last week to “straighten out” Chicago, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker vowed to fight back.
“There is no emergency in Chicago that calls for armed military intervention that will disrupt the daily lives of our people,” he said. “What President Trump is doing is unprecedented and unwarranted. It is illegal. It is unconstitutional. And it is un-American.”
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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called Trump’s intention to deploy the National Guard in the city “uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound.”
Johnson did not respond to a request to comment on, and Pritzker declined to comment on, reports about the possible use of the base.
“President Trump’s continued threats to send National Guard and federal troops to Chicago reflects all his worst authoritarian instincts,” Edwin Yohnka, director of communications and public policy at the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, told MSNBC. “Where we see violations of basic rights, we will act and demand that Trump and his federal forces are held accountable for these violations.”
On Aug. 11, Trump declared a public safety emergency in Washington, D.C., and federalized its police force, deploying thousands of National Guard troops to crack down on what he called “out-of-control crime,” despite city leaders pointing to statistics that show violent crime in Washington is at a 30-year low.
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While the nation’s capital falls under federal authority as a city without statehood, National Guard units outside the district typically fall under the authority of state governments, although some military experts have argued it may be within the president’s powers to send them wherever he wants.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Trump administration plans big immigration enforcement operation in Chicago as soon as next week
Sources: The Trump administration is preparing to conduct a major immigration enforcement operation in Chicago. The operation is expected to kick off as soon as next week, according to two sources. Chicago was among the first cities targeted in immigration enforcement operations when Trump took office in January. Officials are preparing the National Guard to help if a peacekeeping presence is needed, akin to what unfolded in Los Angeles following protests. The White House has made clear that these plans are distinct from the idea the president has suggested over the past week to use federal law enforcement and National Guard troops to carry out a broader crime crackdown in Chicago, similar to the current surge in D.C. Instead, the blueprint for the Chicago operation has been established in L.A., where the Department of Homeland Security has touted enforcement operations there, taking to social media to boast about arrests and embracing aggressive tactics. The National Guard’s role in Chicago would be similar to what it was in LA, where troops were on Title 10 orders, meaning they were barred from engaging in law enforcement activities.
The Trump administration is preparing to conduct a major immigration enforcement operation in Chicago as soon as next week, according to multiple sources familiar with the planning, marking the latest escalation between the president and a Democratic-led city.
President Donald Trump and his aides have repeatedly slammed Chicago over policies that limit cooperation between local authorities and federal immigration enforcement. Chicago grappled with an influx of migrants during the Biden administration following surges along the US southern border and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to transport migrants to Democratic-led cities.
Chicago was among the first cities targeted in immigration enforcement operations when Trump took office in January. The administration also sued the city over its so-called sanctuary policies, though the case was dismissed when a judge ruled the federal government lacked the legal standing to bring the challenge, and threatened to withhold federal funding, which was also blocked by a judge.
Now, the anticipated operations in Chicago are expected to be at a larger scale, using personnel from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and possibly other agencies. Officials are preparing the National Guard to help if a peacekeeping presence is needed, akin to what unfolded in Los Angeles following protests, the sources said.
Preparations for Chicago are already underway, including sending armored vehicles to the city in the coming days and surging federal agents by next Friday, Sept. 5, when, according to two sources, the operation is expected to kick off. Discussions, however, are still ongoing and planning is in flux.
White House officials have made clear that these plans are distinct from the idea the president has suggested over the past week to use federal law enforcement and National Guard troops to carry out a broader crime crackdown in Chicago, similar to the current surge in Washington, DC.
Those discussions, which center on “cleaning up domestic Chicago crime,” as one of the officials put it, are ongoing and are not a part of this immigration-focused operation (though the effort in Washington has yielded a huge spike in immigration-related arrests).
Instead, the blueprint for the Chicago operation has been established in Los Angeles.
The Department of Homeland Security has touted enforcement operations there, taking to social media to boast about arrests and embracing aggressive tactics. This week, the department announced it made 5,000 arrests in Los Angeles since June.
White House border czar Tom Homan said Thursday that planning for Chicago was still underway. He added that there are talks underway to use a Naval base north of Chicago as a hub for federal personnel. The Navy declined to comment on potential plans and referred questions to DHS.
Homan declined to say how many people would be deployed but maintained “it will be a large contingent.”
“You can see a ramp up of operation in Chicago, absolutely,” he said.
Gregory Bovino, who holds the title of chief patrol agent of the El Centro sector, has been charged with the operations in Los Angeles and is expected to lead operations in Chicago as well, according to two sources.
Gregory Bovino, US Border Patrol El Centro Sector Chief, walks in Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park as a large group of federal law enforcement officers arrive on July 7, 2025. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images/File
“Across the country, DHS law enforcement are arresting and removing the worst of worst including gang members, murderers, pedophiles, and rapists that have terrorized American communities,” a senior Homeland Security official said in a statement to CNN when asked about upcoming operations in Chicago. “Under Secretary Noem, ICE and CBP are working overtime to deliver on the American people’s mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens and make America safe again.”
The National Guard’s role in Chicago would be similar to what it was in Los Angeles, where troops were on Title 10 orders, meaning they had been federalized and were barred by the Posse Comitatus Act from engaging in law enforcement activities.
The situation is different in DC, where troops are on Title 32 orders. That normally means they report to the governor — in the unique case of DC, that authority falls to the president and is typically delegated to the Army Secretary — and are not subject to Posse Comitatus. There would be broader legal concerns if the Trump administration tried something similar in Illinois.
Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force judge advocate and current law professor at Southwestern Law School, previously told CNN it would be “a whole new world for them to try a Washington, DC-type maneuver in Chicago or anywhere else that’s not Washington, DC, because Washington, DC, is so legally different than any other area.”
The current immigration push, however, is firmly in the president’s executive authority, administration officials said.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks to the press while on board a water taxi passing Trump Tower on the Chicago River on August 25, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday railed against Trump for suggesting he could deploy a larger contingent of federal forces to Chicago, accusing the administration of “searching for ways to lay the groundwork to circumvent our democracy, militarize our cities and end elections.”
Pritzker also said that the administration had failed to contact his office or the mayor ahead of the reported deployment, and he slammed the lack of coordination.
ICE asks permission to use Chicago Navy base as launch pad for its immigration and deportation crackdown
Homeland Security has requested access to a U.S. Navy base, north of Chicago, to house ICE agents, reports say. The president has vowed to execute the “largest deportation operation” in U.s. history, with a goal of deporting 1 million people per year. The request may also include National Guard members, whose deployment to two cities this year has been met with public and political pushback. Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin condemned the reported plans, saying they would be a ‘total waste’ and ‘hurt our military readiness’ The president also appeared to tease his plans for the Windy City, writing on Twitter: “Can this be possible? The people are desperate for me to STOP THE CRIME, something the Democrats aren’t capable of doing” The decision to grant access to the base has not been made as of Wednesday, the Washington Post reported. The base would provide “facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs,” according to the Post.
The Department of Homeland Security requested to use the Naval Station Great Lakes — about 40 miles north of Chicago — to house ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents from September 2 through 30, officials at the base told the Chicago Sun-Times. The president has vowed to execute the “largest deportation operation” in U.S. history, with a goal of deporting 1 million people per year.
The request may also include National Guard members, whose deployment to two U.S. cities this year has been met with public and political pushback.
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“These operations are similar to what occurred in Los Angeles earlier this summer. Same DHS team,” Navy Captain Stephen Yargosz, commanding officer of the base, said in an email obtained by the outlet. “This morning I received a call that there is the potential to also support National Guard units. Not many details on this right now. Mainly a lot of concerns and questions.”
If the request is granted, the base would provide “facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs,” according to the Washington Post.
Homeland Security has requested access to a Navy base, north of Chicago, to house ICE agents. President Donald Trump plans to send troops to the Windy City as part of his immigration and crime crackdowns, reports say (Getty Images)
The decision to grant access has not been made as of Wednesday, the Post reported.
“President Trump has been clear: we are going to make our streets and cities safe again. Across the country, DHS law enforcement are arresting and removing the worst of worst including gang members, murderers, pedophiles, and rapists that have terrorized American communities. Under Secretary Noem, ICE and CBP are working overtime to deliver on the American people’s mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens and make America safe again,” a senior DHS official told The Independent in a statement.
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The Independent has asked Naval Station Great Lakes and the Illinois governor’s office for more information.
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan confirmed to reporters Thursday that “there’s discussions” about ICE using a naval base north of Chicago as an operations center, noting “the planning is still being discussed.” He didn’t say whether National Guard troops would use the base.
Discussing the government’s plans for Chicago, Homan said: “We’re not going to tell you how many resources we’re going to send to the city. We don’t want the bad guy to know…it’ll be a large contingent.”
The president also appeared to tease his plans for the Windy City. “Governor Pritzker had 6 murders in Chicago this weekend. 20 people were shot. But he doesn’t want to ask me for help. Can this be possible? The people are desperate for me to STOP THE CRIME, something the Democrats aren’t capable of doing,” he wrote on Truth Social Thursday morning.
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Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin condemned the reported plans. “Donald Trump’s reportedly going to use Naval Station Great Lakes as a center for his illegal military occupation in Chicago. That’d be a total waste, and it’d hurt our military readiness,” he said Wednesday in a statement on X.
Trump’s immigration agenda has become a fixture of his second term. DHS is facing a barrage of lawsuits over its aggressive deportation efforts.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has told the president there’s no need for federal troops to come to Chicago, emphasizing that crime is down in the Windy City (AP)
The president also campaigned on reducing crime but his militaristic approach has sparked controversy among state leaders and civil rights groups.
Earlier this month, Trump declared a “crime emergency” in Washington, D.C., federalizing the city’s local police and arming National Guard members. Sporting bright orange high-visibility vests over their typical garb, National Guard members were spotted picking up trash in Lafayette Park this week as part of the “beautification and restoration mission,” according to officials.
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In June, the president deployed thousands of National Guard members to Los Angeles as protests erupted over Trump’s immigration raids. California Governor Gavin Newsom sued the administration after Trump federalized the state’s National Guard.
Last week, the president suggested Chicago was his next target.
When asked whether the city was next in line to receive a deployment of federal troops, DHS Chief Kristi Noem told NewsNation this week: “We’re going to have a strike team in Chicago soon.”
The president has suggested Chicago was his next target for his crime crackdown, weeks after he first deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., who were spotted this week picking up trash in a park in the nation’s capital (AP)
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker told reporters Wednesday that no federal officials have contacted him about the plans. His team has “received no calls from the White House, from the federal government, from anybody who might be in charge of some sort of troop movement,” he said.
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At a press conference earlier this week, the governor insisted that there’s no need for federal forces to come to the Windy City, emphasizing that crime in Chicago is down.
In response to Pritzker’s pushback, Trump suggested during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting that he wouldn’t back down.
“I’m the president of the United States,” he said. “If I think our country is in danger — and it is in danger in these cities — I can do it.”
State leaders are privately discussing a legal strategy to challenge the federal deployment, Reuters reported.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul told WTTW on Wednesday that, legally, in order for the president to federalize the National Guard, “there either has to be a foreign invasion, rebellion from within or inability to enforce a federal law because of inadequate resources through regular means.” Raoul added: “None of those circumstances exist in regards to dealing with crime in Chicago.”
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Sending in the National Guard is “performative,” Arne Duncan, former President Barack Obama’s Secretary of Education and founder of community violence prevention nonprofit Chicago CRED, told Reuters.
The move “harkens back to Klan patrols — that’s the imagery [Trump] wants and it’s incredibly disturbing. He wants these military clashes with civilians,” he said.
Trump administration asks military base outside Chicago for support on immigration operations
Department of Homeland Security asked Naval Station Great Lakes for support on immigration operations this week. The request came weeks after the Republican administration deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to target crime, immigration and homelessness. City leaders said Thursday that they are preparing for multiple possible scenarios, from troops assisting in immigration arrests to patrolling in the streets. Chicago’s long-held status as a so-called sanctuary city has irked the Trump administration, which used Chicago to kick off a nationwide crackdown on immigration weeks after Trump’s second inauguration. The city’s mayor and governor have pushed back against a possible mobilization, saying crime has fallen in Chicago and that the city doesn’t want or need the military’s help. The White House has been pointing out recent shootings in the city, including at Thursday’s White House press briefing when press secretary Karoline Leavitt listed crime statistics in seven other major U.S. cities, including New Orleans, Detroit, St. Louis, Detroit and New York. The president has often singled out Chicago, likening it to a war zone and “hellhole”
The Trump administration asked Naval Station Great Lakes for support on immigration operations this week, offering a clue of what an expanded law enforcement crackdown might look like in the nation’s third-largest city.
The Department of Homeland Security asked the base for “limited support in the form of facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs to support DHS operations,” Matt Mogle, spokesperson for the base north of Chicago, said Wednesday.
The request came weeks after the Republican administration deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to target crime, immigration and homelessness, and two months after it sent troops to Los Angeles.
Although details of the administration’s plans for Chicago are scarce, city leaders said Thursday that they are preparing for multiple possible scenarios, from troops assisting in immigration arrests to patrolling in the streets.
“We don’t want to raise any fears,” Police Superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters. “We don’t want to create any speculation around what’s going on.”
Chicago leaders want more communication
City leaders said Thursday that the White House hadn’t contacted them about its plans, and a spokesman for the Illinois National Guard said the base hadn’t received requests regarding a Chicago mobilization.
Mogle, the base spokesman, said no decisions had been made on the request, and that the base hadn’t received an official request to support a National Guard deployment. The Chicago Sun-Times first reported on the request to the Navy base.
DHS did not confirm whether it had asked to use the base. But it said in a statement Thursday that it was working to make “our streets and cities safe again.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have pushed back against a possible mobilization, saying crime has fallen in Chicago and that the city doesn’t want or need the military’s help. They are planning to sue.
City leaders said workers were circulating know-your-rights cards in neighborhoods with heavy immigrant populations, which offer tips on what to do in case of an encounter with an immigration agent. Other workers were checking in on Chicago’s homeless encampments and providing information about shelters since Trump has pushed to move homeless people far from Washington.
Snelling asked for more communication on plans involving law enforcement.
“To make sure that we’re not stoking fears through neighborhoods and we don’t have people running scared and it doesn’t create chaos on our streets, we’re willing to have those conversations,” Snelling said.
Many Chicagoans are on edge about the rumored deployment. Former President Barack Obama, who is from Chicago, weighed in Thursday, posting on X: “The erosion of basic principles like due process and the expanding use of our military on domestic soil puts the liberties of all Americans at risk, and should concern Democrats and Republicans alike.”
The politics of a deployment
Pritzker, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, has spent days showcasing parts of the city where crime has fallen and said there is no emergency in Chicago requiring military intervention. He told The Associated Press that the presence of troops could worsen the situation.
“What he’s trying to do is try to inflame something that will cause a problem that he can then point at,” the two-term governor said, referring to President Donald Trump.
Trump has often singled out Chicago, likening it to a war zone and “hellhole.” Chicago’s long-held status as a so-called sanctuary city has irked the Trump administration, which used Chicago to kick off a nationwide crackdown on immigration weeks after Trump’s second inauguration.
Pritzker and Trump, who has zeroed-in on Democrat-led cities, have traded barbs over the issue for days.
“The people are desperate for me to STOP THE CRIME, something the Democrats aren’t capable of doing,” Trump posted Thursday on his Truth Social network.
In recent days, the administration has been pointing out recent shootings in the city, including at Thursday’s White House press briefing when press secretary Karoline Leavitt listed crime statistics.
“This is JB Pritzker’s legacy, by the way,” she said.
Crime in Chicago
Violent crime has dropped significantly in Chicago in recent years, but it remains a persistent problem in parts of the city.
Chicago had a homicide rate of 21.7 per 100,000 residents in 2024, according to analysis of federal data by the Rochester Institute of Technology. Seven other major U.S. cities — St. Louis, New Orleans, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Indianapolis and Richmond, Virginia — had higher rates than Chicago.
Still, Chicago reported 573 homicides in 2024, the most of any U.S. city that year. At the same time, violent crime dropped significantly in the first half of this year, representing the steepest decline in over a decade, according to city data. In the first six months of 2025, total violent crime dropped by more than 22% compared with the first half of 2024.
In Illinois there are roughly 10,000 members of the Illinois Army National Guard and 3,000 Air National Guard. They routinely mobilize at armories around the state, including nearly a dozen in Chicago and its suburbs. But they are state-owed property and if the federal government mobilizes the Guard without the governor’s blessing, the armories aren’t available for use.
Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5476892-chicago-naval-base-dhs-immigration-agenda/