President Trump is planning to deploy more than 200 Homeland Security officers to conduct a massive immigration sweep in Chicago.
Immigration agents will also use Naval Station Great Lakes, which is just outside of the Windy City, as a staging point for their raids that are expected to commence come September, according to the New York Times.
Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan confirmed the Trump administration’s plans to flood Chicago and other sanctuary cities with immigration agents.
“Look at the crime rate in Chicago. Operations will ramp up across the country, you’re going to see a ramp up of operations in Chicago, absolutely, you’re going to see a ramp up of operations in New York, you’re going to see a ramp up of operations continue in LA, and Portland, Seattle,” Homan told reporters Thursday.
“All these sanctuary cities that refuse to work with ICE, where we know public safety threats are being released every day into this country, especially those cities.
“We’re gonna address that,” the former ICE honcho added.
But Chicago’s Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson, whose city has long been a target of the Trump administration, condemned the planned raids.
“This plan seems to be a rerun of their tactics in Los Angeles, where ICE agents were used as a pretext to justify further escalation by federal agents and National Guard troops,” he said in a statement.
“We reject any attempts that put Chicagoans in danger as a means of furthering the president’s political ends.”
After sending DHS and the National Guard into Washington, DC, earlier this month to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital, Trump suggested Chicago would be “next.”
“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,” a senior DHS official told The Post.
“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 official said.
A formal request for Homeland Security officials to use the Naval base is pending approval from the Pentagon, according to the New York Times.
The application describes “30 days of operations in the Chicago Metropolitan area,” according to the outlet.
The Naval station would provide “facilities, infrastructure and other logistical needs” for the operation if Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signs off on it. That would include providing space for 250 DHS personnel, a “Tactical Operations Center” and an “Incident Command Post.”
The base, which is traditionally used for training new recruits, would also provide bathrooms, laundry, parking for 140 vehicles and storage space for medical supplies and weapons like rubber bullets and tear gas, according to the New York Times.
The plan would include deploying specialized Homeland Security teams on Sept. 2, according to the outlet.