US border czar Tom Homan confirmed Thursday that the White House is discussing a plan to house Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in a naval base near Chicago, as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to expand federal law enforcement in major Democrat-run cities.
Homan said that expanded operations in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle — “all these sanctuary cities that refuse to work with ICE” — could begin after Labor Day, possibly involving National Guard troops.
The discussions come as Trump has ramped up threats to deploy federal troops to Chicago, casting it as a crime-ridden city. “The people are desperate for me to STOP THE CRIME [in Chicago],” Trump wrote on social media Thursday.
His threats have prompted pushback from city officials and the Illinois governor who said federal “action will be met with a response.”