The Trump administration is discussing using a Navy base near Chicago to support immigration detention efforts, border czar Tom Homan confirmed Thursday.
The Washington Post first reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had reached out to officials at the Naval Station Great Lakes about providing “limited support” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The base would provide “facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs,” the Post reported.
Homan confirmed in remarks to reporters that discussions about using the base are underway, though the timeline of operations remains unclear.
“It’s under discussions,” he told reporters at the White House. “Maybe by the end of the day, but it’s being discussed.”
The border czar would not disclose the number of ICE agents he expects to be deployed to the Windy City but said it would be a “large contingent.”
The move would come as migrant detention centers have been floated in other states — including Indiana, Nebraska and Texas — after Florida opened the controversial Alligator Alcatraz facility in the Everglades last month.
Talks of using the naval station near Chicago come as President Trump has picked a fight with Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) over crime in the city and threatened to deploy the National Guard.
The president has in recent days shifted his rhetoric to say he would rather officials ask for his assistance, and leaders in Illinois have sharply pushed back on the White House’s threat of unilateral intervention.
A federal surge in law enforcement across Washington, D.C., has seen a spike in immigration-related arrests, a sign that similar tactics could be used elsewhere as the administration follows through on its pledge for mass deportations.
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