For weeks President Trump has threatened to send National Guard troops to Chicago. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker says Trump’s repeated threats to send troops are a power grab while the President says it’s an effort to fight crime.
The Department of Homeland Security said in the news release that the action is in honor of Katie Abraham, a 20-year-old woman who was killed in a crash outside Carle Foundation Hospital in January.
Numerous protests have cropped up downtown, outside a suburban military base DHS plans to use and at an immigration processing center that’s expected to be a hub of activity.
In a post on the social media platform X, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the operation would target undocumented immigrants who have sought refuge in Illinois and Chicago.
For the past several weeks, Trump and other administration officials have suggested that Trump could send National Guard members to Chicago. Trump has claimed that Chicago needs federal help to combat crime.
Federal immigration agents will be using office and parking space at Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago starting Friday through Oct. 5.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel, the two Illinois Democrats call the effort a “political game” that is justifying sending troops to American cities, “while wasting limited resources and harming local communities.”
Chicago is among the latest targets for President Donald Trump’s expanded federal intervention. President Donald Trump has targeted Chicago and other Democrat-led cities for expanded federal intervention.
Hundreds of federal agents are being sent to a suburban naval base from Los Angeles, where an immigration blitz spurred protests that pushed President Trump to call in the National Guard.
Pritzker said Illinois State Police received a call from Customs and Border Protection Chief Gregory Bovino over the weekend confirming that ICE will ramp up immigration enforcement in Chicago at some point this week
Asked by reporters in the Oval Office about sending National Guard troops to Chicago, Trump said, “We’re going in,” but added, “I didn’t say when.”
Reports have indicated ICE will ramp up immigration enforcement in the city this week. The city is also bracing for the possible deployment of the National Guard.
As the White House gears up plans for a major deportation effort in the city and potential deployment of National Guard troops, Mayor Brandon Johnson and police Supt. Larry Snelling stressed that Chicago cops won’t assist ICE agents who attempt to conduct raids.
Federal agents would operate out of Naval Station Great Lakes near North Chicago through September, according to an email from a Navy captain.
If President Trump sends the national guard into Chicago, the ACLU of Illinois would help release detained people and sue over excessive force.