President Trump’s border czar on Thursday confirmed a ramped up post-Labor Day deportation campaign is in the works for Chicago, with a “large contingent” of ICE agents potentially housed in a nearby naval base.
Tom Homan’s remarks came a day after the Sun-Times reported agents with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection would be housed at Naval Station Great Lakes near North Chicago from Sept. 2 to Sept. 30, according to an email Monday from Navy Cpt. Stephen Yargosz to his leadership team.
“Operations are ramping up across the country. But you can see a ramp-up across the operations in Chicago, absolutely,” Homan told reporters outside the White House on Thursday about plans for the campaign after the holiday.
As plans come to surface publicly, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling, Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday insisted they are still flying blind — with no outreach from the Trump administration.
Still, the city is on high alert, with Snelling stressing that his officers won’t assist ICE agents who attempt to conduct raids, nor will Chicago cops ask for the immigration status of crime victims or anyone seeking help.
A group of activists from dozens of community organizations also on Thursday opposed the threats of deploying troops in Chicago and called on Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke to refuse to cooperate with the federal government.
Homan said there have been discussions about using the naval base for the effort, although he didn’t specify an exact timeline. “The planning is still being discussed,” he said.
Asked how many agents would be taking part in the operation, Homan admitted, “It will be a large contingent.” He told reporters Chicago is specifically being targeted because it “still has a crime problem” and because of its status as a sanctuary city.
“Chicago has a crime problem,” Homan said. “That’s why President Trump’s thinking about it…We’re going to take the assets we have and move them to problem areas like sanctuary cities, where we know for a fact they’re releasing public safety threat illegal aliens to the streets every day. That’s where we need to send the majority of the resources, and that’s where they’re going to go.”
Pritzker on Monday cited the city’s drop in violent crime, including a 32% drop in homicides and 34% decline in robberies compared to last year. He also noted that 13 of the top 20 cities in homicide rate are led by Republican governors — and Chicago is not on that list.
During a virtual briefing that included Johnson and members of his senior leadership team, Snelling said instead of dispatching “our officers alone” to respond to reports of immigration enforcement, police supervisors will be dispatched to the scene of ICE enforcement actions to “assess the situation.”
Snelling said communication will be key to keeping the peace if and when Trump sends the National Guard to patrol the streets of Chicago, but the top cop hasn’t used his department’s close relationship with the feds to learn their intentions in advance.
If the supervisors determine that it’s “only immigration enforcement,” Snelling said, Chicago cops will “not be in those areas assisting in any way.” But they won’t be “obstructing federal agents” either, Snelling added.
“We don’t want people to fear the Chicago Police Department and we don’t want them to live being a victim of any type of crime or need emergency assistance and not get it because they’re afraid of calling 911,” the superintendent told reporters. “We don’t care about your status at this point. What we want to make sure is that we can get there and provide help.”
A clash between protesters and immigration authorities prompted Trump’s deployment of 4,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles last June. Trump cited a law allowing the president to call in the National Guard of any state if there is an invasion or rebellion — or if the president is “unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.”
National Guard members patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C. have reportedly been asked to clear out homeless encampments in the nation’s capital and possibly even take people who are unhoused into custody.
That won’t happen here — at least not with the city’s help, according to Chief Homelessness Officer Sendy Soto.
“The city of Chicago will work with any homeless encampment that is within our purview. If they are in public spaces, particularly at public parks, we are also supporting the park district to ensure that we can provide … wraparound services to as many people as we can if they are in that moment,” Soto said.
“But in terms of arrest or clearing encampments along with federal agents, we will not be doing that.”
Chicago a favorite Trump target
Chicago has long been one of Trump’s favorite and most frequent political targets — even though he chose the city to build his 96-story Trump International Hotel & Tower along the Chicago River with a 2,891-square foot sign bearing his name.
On the day he seized control over the D.C. police department and ordered the National Guard to patrol the streets of the nation’s capital, Trump warned that Chicago would be next.
The president has repeated the threat in recent days, even as he suggested that it might be better to wait for Johnson and Pritzker to ask for federal help.
Earlier this week, Pritzker orchestrated a riverfront news conference to condemn the president’s threat to, as he put it, “invade” Chicago. It was a show of force to claim the city is doing just fine without federal help.
Pritzker on Thursday said state officials still haven’t been in contact with the Trump administration, which the Democratic governor claimed is “just looking to invade the city of Chicago.”
“This is a part of his plan to do something really nefarious, which is to interfere with elections in 2026. He wants to have troops on the ground to stop people from voting, to intimidate people from going to the voting booth,” Pritzker said. “So take note. That is what this is all about.”
Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday fired back at Pritzker’s assertion that federal help isn’t needed.
“... We’ve been seeing the governor of Illinois parading out there, saying that there’s nothing wrong with Chicago. It’s a great place to live. There’s no crime there. He doesn’t need President Trump’s help. Well I think the residents of Chicago beg to differ, and the statistics beg to differ.
“He should put politics aside and he should pick up the phone and call this president,” Leavitt added, “who would be more than happy to do right by law-abiding American residents in the city of Chicago.”
The governor acknowledged that there is nothing he can do in advance to prevent the “unconstitutional” intrusion. But he vowed to do everything legally possible to stop it after the fact.
City in the dark on Trump plans
Snelling acknowledged that his officers work alongside federal agents on a host of crime-fighting missions and on a daily basis at the so-called Crime Prevention and Information Center, a technology hub critical to the department’s operations.
But that ongoing relationship has not given CPD advance word on Trump’s plans for Chicago, Snelling said.
“Even if we did, there would be certain things that we would not necessarily share with the public because there may not be a clear understanding of what that communication is on behalf of the public,” Snelling said.
“We don’t want to raise any fears. We don’t want to create any speculation around what’s going on until we have concrete information… We don’t want people running scared” or creating “chaos on our streets.”
Johnson was asked who in his administration has reached out to the Trump administration about its plans for Chicago.
“We have not had any communications with the White House regarding the president’s alleged — not alleged — but his purported desire to send federal troops into cities across America. He has not communicated with us,” the mayor said.
“Typically there’s … the chain of communications that flows through our police department that happens on a regular basis around getting guns off the streets of Chicago, cracking down on gangs, human trafficking and drugs. There’s been a coordinated effort to address … any of the critical issues that we do face. Unfortunately, we have not had that level of coordination and cooperation on this particular matter.”
If and when federal agents or National Guard members do arrive in Chicago, Snelling said “communication will be the key” to maintaining law and order, even if protesters take to the streets.
“We are preparing for whatever happens … If there’s communication — and hopefully, there will be — we’ll navigate around it as it comes. … The key here is to communicate. To have some type of communication so that nothing gets out of hand. Nothing gets out of control,” Snelling said.
“If we see protests … we want to make sure that it’s done peacefully without violence, without vandalism just like we did during the DNC.”
Snelling stressed that the “rules of engagement” for National Guard members are “different from that of local law enforcement.”
“Keep it peaceful. Try not to obstruct or become physical with federal agents or members of the National Guard. That’s one way to keep the peace where people can have their voices heard,” he said.
Contributing: Mitchell Armentrout, Mary Norkol.