DHS asks naval base near Chicago for immigration operations support

The Department of Homeland Security asked a naval base near Chicago for aid with immigration operations.

DHS asked Naval Station Great Lakes for “limited support in the form of facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs to support DHS operations,” according to base spokesperson Matt Mogle on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.

Mogle also said that no decisions had been made on the request, and that the base hadn’t received an official request to support a National Guard deployment.

While there are scarce details of the Trump administration's plans for Chicago, city officials said Thursday that they are preparing for multiple possible scenarios, from troops assisting in immigration arrests to patrolling the streets.

“We don’t want to raise any fears,” Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said. “We don’t want to create any speculation around what’s going on.”

He asked for more communication on plans involving law enforcement.

“To make sure that we’re not stoking fears through neighborhoods and we don’t have people running scared and it doesn’t create chaos on our streets, we’re willing to have those conversations,” Snelling said.

On Thursday, city leaders said that the White House hadn’t contacted them about its plans.

DHS did not confirm whether it had asked to use the base, but said in a statement Thursday that it was working to make “our streets and cities safe again.”

Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have pushed back against a possible mobilization of the National Guard, claiming that crime has fallen in Chicago and that the city doesn’t want or need the military’s help. They have plans to sue the Trump administration if needed.

Pritzker said Thursday regarding President Donald Trump deploying troops, “[t]his is a part of his plan to do something really nefarious, which is to interfere with elections in 2026. He wants to have troops on the ground to stop people from voting, to intimidate people from going to the voting booth.”

Earlier this month, Trump sent National Guardsmen and federal officers to Washington, D.C., to assist local law enforcement with cracking down on crime.