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.”
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.”
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. 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.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
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