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(NewsNation) — Federal migration enforcement agencies are staging for a multiagency instrumentality enforcement blitz successful Chicago aft Labor Day, akin to erstwhile operations successful Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., White House officials confirmed to NewsNation.
On Thursday, White House borderline czar Tom Homan confirmed that the U.S. Naval Station Great Lakes, located adjacent the Illinois-Wisconsin border, would beryllium utilized arsenic a hub for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers up of a planned Chicago operation. Homan said national agencies would besides people New York City and different Democrat-led cities aft Labor Day.
Homan said "a ample contingent" of ICE officers would beryllium sent to Chicago, but would not corroborate however many.
"We're not going to archer you however galore resources we're sending to the city," Homan said. "We don't privation the atrocious guys to cognize what we're sending."
Homan's comments came aft a NewsNation root with cognition of the cognition said Wednesday that Customs and Border Protection officials person begun readying for U.S. Border Patrol unit and agents to beryllium sent to Chicago, on with ICE officers, for the operation.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told NewsNation this week that an ICE elite tactical unit, known arsenic a "strike team," will beryllium sent to Chicago “soon,” but did not supply a circumstantial timeline for the deployment.
The root said Noem's comments signaled Chicago was the latest Democrat-led metropolis wherever DHS would absorption migration enforcement efforts and that the bureau had "tipped its hand."
In a connection provided to NewsNation astir the ICE spike team's deployment to Chicago, a elder DHS authoritative said, “President Trump has been clear: we are going to marque our streets and cities harmless again. Across the country, DHS instrumentality enforcement is arresting and removing the worst of the worst, including pack members, murderers, pedophiles, and rapists who person terrorized American communities.
"Under Secretary Noem, ICE and CBP are moving overtime to present connected the American people's mandate to apprehension and deport transgression amerciable aliens and marque America harmless again."
What plans for national migration enforcement are being made?
The NewsNation root said CBP has been moving with Border Patrol unit connected readying for the Chicago cognition and has inquired to the Department of Defense and the Illinois National Guard astir utilizing their facilities.
In addition, the root said a U.S. Postal Service warehouse is being considered for lodging unit members and equipment.
Illinois National Guard Lt. Col. Bradford Leighton told NewsNation this week the National Guard had not received immoderate orders regarding immoderate upcoming national operation. Leighton said the bulk of National Guard armories successful Illinois are state-owned and that helium was not alert of immoderate communications betwixt the National Guard and national migration agencies.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported earlier this week that DHS, ICE and CBP officers and agents would beryllium housed astatine the Naval Station Great Lakes betwixt Sept. 2 and Sept. 30, according to an interior email obtained by the newspaper.
Navy Capt. Stephen Yargosz wrote to his enactment squad that the operations were akin to those that took spot successful Los Angeles this summer, confirming accusation a root told NewsNation. The published study besides said the Navy captain's email indicated the cognition was focused connected downtown Chicago, and that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would request to motion disconnected connected a petition for assistance.
National Guard troops could besides beryllium stationed astatine the Naval basal during the operation, officials said successful the email.
White House borderline czar Tom Homan speaks during the yearly Conservative Political Action Conference astatine the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center successful Oxon Hill, Maryland, connected Feb. 22. (Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP) The Washington Post reported precocious that the Pentagon has been readying a subject deployment to Chicago for weeks, targeting September for an cognition that would ace down connected homelessness, transgression and undocumented immigrants. The program could beryllium utilized arsenic a blueprint for different large cities, the study indicated.
NewsNation's root said interior discussions besides impact placing national migration officers astatine Chicago’s large airports to supply enactment to national Transportation Security Administration agents.
The root said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson person been briefed connected the operation. Spokespersons for Pritzker and Johnson did not instrumentality messages seeking remark from NewsNation.
Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez told NewsNation connected Wednesday that helium had not received immoderate authoritative accusation from Johnson's office.
A White House spokesperson declined to remark connected the cognition Wednesday, telling NewsNation that officials would not "get ahead" of immoderate imaginable migration enforcement operations. Homan has antecedently referred to Chicago arsenic "Ground Zero," and the metropolis was among the archetypal migration enforcement targets for the medication soon aft Trump took office.
During a two-day enforcement cognition successful Chicago successful precocious January, ICE made much than 1,300 migrant arrests.
On Thursday, Homan said, "Chicago has a transgression problem, and that's wherefore President Trump is reasoning astir it."
Why is Chicago a apical precedence for the Trump administration?
Chicago and different Democratic-led cities person remained a people of the Trump medication owed to their alleged “sanctuary” policies, which forestall authorities and section constabulary from cooperating with ICE officers conducting migration enforcement operations.
Noem appeared successful suburban Chicago earlier this period to item caller arrests of migrant criminals successful the greater Chicago area. She targeted Pritzker and Johnson, saying they were ignoring the instrumentality and referred to some elected officials arsenic "obstructionists."
“They’re deciding that unsafe criminals that are murderers, rapists, wealth launderers, person committed assaults, and that are trafficking children are much important than the families who unrecorded successful the communities here," Noem said astatine the event.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem spoke astir migration enforcement successful Illinois. (Jeff Arnold/NewsNation)In caller days, President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago to code what helium called “embarrassing” transgression numbers. Trump said that helium would nonstop troops if helium were asked to bash truthful by Pritzker, who, on with Mayor Johnson, has been vocal successful his absorption to national troops being sent successful to patrol Chicago’s streets.
"Governor Pritzker had 6 murders successful Chicago this weekend. 20 radical were shot. But helium doesn’t privation to inquire maine for help. Can this beryllium possible? The radical are hopeless for maine to STOP THE CRIME, thing the Democrats aren’t susceptible of doing. STAY TUNED!!! President DJT," Trump wrote connected social media Thursday.
In response, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said successful a prepared statement: “As Illinois leaders and Chicagoans person made clear, we person not asked for oregon consented to President Trump bringing successful the subject to ‘save’ our city," Durbin said. "And present helium reportedly wants to further maltreatment his power, discarded authorities resources, and undermine subject readiness by utilizing Naval Station Great Lakes arsenic a halfway of his cognition successful Illinois. May I punctual the President that deploying the subject to Chicago, and derailing captious operations astatine Naval Station Great Lakes, would beryllium some unhelpful and illegal."
Chicago, on with cities specified arsenic Seattle, Philadelphia, New York and the bluish Virginia/Washington, D.C., corridor, had been targeted for the imaginable deployment of ICE tactical teams. In June, 5 Democratic-led cities were identified arsenic imaginable sites for national migration operations successful the aftermath of anti-ICE rallies successful Los Angeles.
What is an ICE onslaught squad that is being sent to Chicago?
Trump antecedently sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles to assistance with enforcement surrounding ample anti-ICE rallies successful which ICE officers were targeted by protesters. The squad Noem referenced arsenic a onslaught squad successful the agency's plans for Chicago is an ICE Special Response Team.
Eight SRTs are deployed nationwide by ICE that are “trained to service high-risk warrants nether hazardous conditions, escort unsafe transgression aliens who person been ordered deported and assistance section instrumentality enforcement agencies during captious incidents,” according to ICE.
The tactical units usage BearCat tracked vehicles, agelong guns and tactical vests, typically successful operations considered precocious risk. The elite peculiar effect teams are portion of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, which are charged with “upholding America’s migration laws and wrong and beyond our borders done businesslike enforcement and removal operations,” ICE said.
Federal agents artifact radical protesting an ICE migration raid astatine a adjacent licensed cannabis workplace connected July 10, 2025, adjacent Camarillo, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)Federal officers wrong ICE SRTs acquisition aggravated grooming and are utilized specifically successful high-risk apprehension situations and assemblage power tactics, akin to Border Patrol's BORTAC unit.
The squad would beryllium portion of a larger DHS cognition successful Chicago, the NewsNation root said, arsenic the Trump medication continues to people Democratic-led cities. City, authorities and national elected officials who spoke astatine a quality league this week successful Chicago argued Trump's plans person thing to bash with instrumentality enforcement, but alternatively are governmental theatre aimed astatine his rivals.
DHS officials said successful a societal media station Tuesday that the bureau made its 5,000th transgression migrant arrest. The bureau said the enforcement effort had taken “criminal amerciable aliens, pack members, kid predators and murderers” disconnected the streets.
“This is conscionable the beginning,” officials wrote successful the post, which thanked CBP, Border Patrol and ICE for their efforts.
NewsNation's Kellie Meyer contributed to this report.
