OAN Staff Blake Wolf
1:37 PM – Friday, August 29, 2025
The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to deploy more than 200 Homeland Security agents to Chicago for a large-scale immigration sweep, with the U.S. Naval Station Great Lakes serving as a central immigration hub.
The announcement follows President Donald Trump’s decision to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., which has resulted in over 1,300 arrests and the seizure of over 140 illegal guns, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed the U.S. Naval Station Great Lakes will be used for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations on Thursday, while noting that federal agencies would also like to target other major Democrat-led cities, such as New York City, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle.
Homan noted that a “large contingent” of ICE officers will be sent to Chicago, while declining to specify details.
“We’re not going to tell you how many resources we’re sending to the city,” Homan stated. “We don’t want the bad guys to know what we’re sending.”
“Look at the crime rate in Chicago. Operations will ramp up across the country, you’re going to see a ramp up of operations in Chicago, absolutely, you’re going to see a ramp up of operations in New York, you’re going to see a ramp up of operations continue in LA, and Portland, Seattle,” he continued.
Homan went on to criticize Democrat sanctuary city policies for harboring illegal aliens, adding: “All these sanctuary cities that refuse to work with ICE, where we know public safety threats are being released every day into this country, especially those cities.”
An internal memo obtained by the New York Times reported that the operation involved 200 homeland security officials, while also confirming that the naval base will be used as a staging area for the immigration operation, providing “facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs.”
The Times report details a request to use the naval station by the Homeland Security Department, which suggests that the operation could last for the entire month of September.
Meanwhile, Chicago Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson condemned the Trump administration’s planned immigration raids, warning that his city could face a repeat of the sweeping, high-profile operations that rocked Los Angeles in June.
“This plan seems to be a rerun of their tactics in Los Angeles, where ICE agents were used as a pretext to justify further escalation by federal agents and National Guard troops,” Johnson stated.
“We reject any attempts that put Chicagoans in danger as a means of furthering the president’s political ends,” he added.
Governor JB Pritzker (D-Ill.) has also pushed back on the prospects of federal troops entering the Windy City, characterizing it as government “overreach.”
“I am sounding the alarm on the real crisis we face today. Donald Trump’s overreach is what our founders warned against – it is unprecedented, unwarranted, and un-American. There’s no emergency here that calls for military intervention,” Pritzker wrote in an X post on Monday.
Illinois Democrat leaders responded in a manner similar to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who recently acknowledged that President Trump’s decision to deploy federal agents and temporarily federalize the Metropolitan Police Department “has worked” in significantly reducing violent crime.
Nevertheless, the Trump administration seems adamant on following through with the operation to “make our streets and cities safe again,” an extension of the GOP president’s campaign promise to “Make America Great 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 worst including gang members, murderers, pedophiles, and rapists that have terrorized American communities,” stated a senior Department of Homeland Security official speaking with the New York Post.
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