A Navy base outside of Chicago has reportedly been approved as a staging hub for Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions by the Department of Homeland Security.
The Pentagon has authorized the use of Naval Station Great Lakes, defense officials confirmed to The Washington Post.
The approval allows ICE and other federal personnel to launch operations from the base and could also enable housing for National Guard or active-duty troops if President Donald Trump orders a military deployment to help operations to root out homelessness, illegal immigration, and crime in the Democrat-run sanctuary city of Chicago and greater Illinois under Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The move comes amid escalating tensions between the Trump administration and the Democrat leaders of Illinois and the crime-hit city of Chicago, which Trump rebuked as the “murder capital of the world” after a deadly Labor Day weekend.
“We could straighten out Chicago — all they have to do is ask us,” Trump told reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office. “I want to go into Chicago, and I have this incompetent governor who doesn’t want us.”
Expanded ICE operations in Chicago could begin this week, though questions remain about whether Trump will also deploy troops, the Post reported.
“We’re making a determination now,” Trump added. “Do we go to Chicago, or do we go to a place like New Orleans where we have a great Gov. Jeff Landry, who wants us to come in and straighten out a very nice section of this country that’s become quite — you know, quite tough, quite bad.”
Like some Trump actions, Democrat-led obstruction through legal challenges are expected. A federal judge in California appointed by former President Bill Clinton recently ruled that similar troop use in Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the military from civilian law enforcement roles.
The ruling did not force the federal forces out of the city, though, and the Trump administration denounced the politicized ruling as meaningless, powerless, and pointless.
DHS has defended its plans to crack down on homelessness, crime, and illegal immigration in Democrat-run sanctuary cities and states, saying operations are focused on “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.”
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