Amid escalated immigration enforcement, federal officials say they plan to purchase buildings in Chicago to serve as a base for those operations.
During a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that her agency plans to purchase buildings both in Chicago and in Portland to house federal agents tasked with immigration enforcement, according to NBC News.
Noem says that the purchases are indicative of the government’s resolve to continue the increased enforcement, which has been met with legal challenges and pushback from state officials and activists in recent months.
“We’re purchasing more buildings in Chicago to operate out of. We’re going to not back off,” Noem said. “In fact, we’re doubling down, and we’re going to be in more parts of Chicago in response to the people there.”
Noem, who was in Chicago in recent days ahead of a National Guard deployment to the city, said that her first-hand tour of the city and suburbs included looking into buildings to house federal operations.
“I was there a few days ago and looked at some facilities that we can deploy more law enforcement out of, because what they’re trying to do with these riots and violence is distract us and keep us from going after those murderers and rapists that are out on the streets,” she said.
Chicago Politics
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has repeatedly pushed back against depictions of Chicago as a crime-ridden city, and dismissed the Trump administration’s claims about the need for more federal intervention, including troop deployments.
“Donald Trump’s deranged depiction of Chicago as a hellhole, a war zone, and the worst and most dangerous city in the world was just complete BS,” the governor said. “He clearly has decided to declare war on a great American city that has the lowest homicide rate in 60 years, in a state that has record employment and near-record tourism. And he’s done it for some unspoken reason.”
According to reporting from NBC News, DHS has confirmed more than 900 arrests connected to Operation Midway Blitz.
It is not known how many of those arrests have involved individuals with criminal records.
Hundreds of National Guard troops from Texas and Illinois have been federalized by President Donald Trump, and are expected to be deployed to help secure ICE agents and facilities, including a processing facility in suburban Broadview and the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago.
Following a similar lawsuit in Oregon, which ordered a halt to deployment of National Guard troops in Portland, Illinois officials have filed suit against the Trump administration seeking to block a deployment in Chicago. A ruling in that case could come as soon as Thursday.