Navy Gets Request for ICE, National Guard to Operate Out of Chicago-Area Base

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Naval Station Great Lakes Building One at sunset
Naval Station Great Lakes Building One at sunset, Aug. 5, 2025. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Matt Hall)

The Department of Homeland Security has asked the Navy to use one of its bases in the greater Chicago area for immigration enforcement, a move that would further cement the Trump administration's use of U.S. military personnel and installations for a nationwide detention and deportation effort.

Navy officials on Thursday referred all questions to the DHS about the possible use of Naval Station Great Lakes, North Chicago, for Immigration and Customs Enforcement duties. They confirmed the request Wednesday, however, to Navy Times, saying it involved "limited support in the form of facilities, infrastructure and other logistical needs to support DHS operations."

The Chicago Sun-Times first reported the potential arrangement Wednesday, citing an email from the commanding officer of Great Lakes, Navy Capt. Stephen Yargosz, to base leaders regarding the use of the installation to house federal immigration agents and National Guard troops in September.

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The request followed a statement Friday by President Donald Trump, who said Chicago would be the next city targeted for deployment of federal agents and federalized troops after Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The administration claimed the deployment to LA was to quell immigration raid protests, which were mostly isolated, and the ongoing D.C. deployment was to reduce crime, despite historically low crime rates in the nation's capital.

"We'll straighten that one out, probably next, that will be our next one after this," Trump said in comments from the Oval Office. "I think Chicago will be our next, and then we'll help with New York."

    The move would follow Trump's takeover three weeks ago of Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police and the call-up of the D.C. National Guard to increase street patrols.

    According to the Sun-Times, Yargosz said he received a call regarding possible ICE operations in downtown Chicago "similar to what occurred in Los Angeles earlier in the summer," with the potential to "also support National Guard units."

    "Not many details on this right now. Mainly a lot of concerns and questions," Yargosz wrote, according to the Sun-Times.

    Illinois Democratic lawmakers quickly responded to the report, including Rep. Brad Schneider, whose House District includes Great Lakes.

    In a statement Thursday, Schneider said the effort is "weakening constitutional protections" and "undermining the rule of law."

    "President Trump must also take seriously his role as commander in chief and allow for our troops and Homeland Security agents to remain focused on their mission of keeping us safe in an increasingly dangerous world, instead of forcing them to become players in his political reality show," Schneider said.

    Iraq War veteran Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., also decried the move, saying it was politicizing the military for partisan gain and calling it "deeply disturbing, un-American and has no place in any of our cities."

    "Forcing the military, uninvited, into Chicago to intimidate Americans in their own communities does not make our nation stronger, it simply distracts the military from executing its core mission of keeping Americans safe from real adversaries who wish us harm," Duckworth said in a statement.

    When questioned about the use of Great Lakes, Homeland Security officials did address the possible housing of agents and National Guard troops at the installation. In a statement, the department said federal workers, including ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents, have been working overtime to fulfill Trump's mission to "arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens and make America safe again."

    "President Trump has been clear: We are going to make our streets and cities safe again. Across the country, DHS law enforcement are arresting and removing the worst of the worst including gang members, murderers, pedophiles and rapists that have terrorized American communities," the department said in a statement Thursday.

    Government data shows that as of June 71.7% of the 57,861 people detained by ICE had no criminal convictions. The figures included 14,318 people with pending charges and 27,177 who were subject to immigration enforcement.

    It is not known whether Great Lakes would be used to house any individuals detained by ICE. If the facility, which spans 1,600 acres and includes 1,153 buildings, was used for such a mission, it would not be the first for a Defense Department installation.

    In July, the administration said it would use Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, and Camp Atterbury, Indiana, to house detained immigrants.

    And in one of the more significant displays of Trump's militarization of immigration policy, his administration is also building what is expected to be the largest immigration detention center in the country on Fort Bliss in Texas.

    That detention center, which has been dubbed Camp East Montana after the road it is near, opened earlier this month. As of last week, there were about 1,000 migrants being detained there in what are essentially reinforced tents, Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, told reporters at a news conference after a site visit. It is expected to hold up to 5,000 detainees once it is fully built.

    While located on Fort Bliss, it is being managed by ICE and is being built and operated by a contractor under mysterious terms. The "vast majority" of employees at the detention center are contractors, Escobar said.

    Meanwhile, Trump declared a public safety emergency in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 11, assumed federal control of the district's police force and called up the National Guard, saying the move was necessary to address rising crime rates.

    Data shows, however, that violent crime including homicides, robberies and burglaries were down to their lowest rates in 30 years, 35% lower since 2023.

    Trump's takeover of Washington came a week after a 19-year-old federal employee who once worked with the Department of Government Efficiency -- a group run by billionaire Elon Musk that stripped federal agencies in the early days of the Trump administration -- was assaulted by a gang of teenagers in a neighborhood known for its restaurants, clubs and theaters.

    Edward Coristine, who once listed himself on LinkedIn under the moniker "Big Balls," was trying to stop an attempted carjacking.

    D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Wednesday that, since the federal takeover, there has been an 87% drop in carjackings compared with the same period last year.

    More than 2,200 National Guard troops are currently deployed to the nation's capital, including 1,000 from the D.C. Guard, as well as Republican-led states such as Mississippi, Ohio, West Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana and Tennessee.

    More than 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines were deployed to LA in June to manage protests in the city over immigration operations.

    Trump federalized the California National Guard under a legal provision that allows the president to call up members during an invasion, rebellion or "danger of a rebellion." His reasoning has been challenged in court, with the state of California arguing that the move was illegal and requesting that all troops be returned to its control.

    Related: Marines, Soldiers Set Up Tents and Cots at Guantanamo Bay for Trump's Migrant Deportations

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