One day after it was announced that 300 ICE agents would be operating out of Naval Station Great Lakes in Lake County starting this weekend, politicians appeared at the North Chicago base to tour the facility themselves.
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth joined U.S. Congressman Brad Schneider for a visit and tour of Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago.
The station is expected to base homeland security agents and National Guard troops should President Trump follow through on his threat to send them to Chicago, officials said.
Schneider, Durbin and Duckworth held a news conference following the visit, where Schneider said Trump can make sure Chicago and nearby communities are safe by releasing money to address gun violence in the United States.
“He could release the $800 million he is holding up to help our communities, our police departments, protect our communities, to fight violent crime, to invest in those,” Schneider said.
Schneider added that sending in ICE is “putting a wedge in our communities.”
“The second point I’ll make is that what we’re seeing around the country is this administration working to scare and terrorize our communities, to send people in without insignia, designations of what agency or what service they’re with,” Schneider said. “Covering their faces with masks is doing nothing more than terrorizing and scaring people. It’s not making us safer or more secure, but putting a wedge in our communities.”
He added, “That needs to stop. It needs to stop right now.”
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart pointed out that the federal administration decided to base ICE operations at the Naval Station Great Lakes in the same month as National Hispanic Heritage Month.
“Masked federal agents operating without judicial warrants increases fear and weakens trust in local government,” Rinehart said. “But fear will not make people safer. And trust is vital to stopping and preventing crime.”
Officials said Thursday that approximately 300 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, along with other federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will be operating out of the Naval base as part of President Donald Trump’s enhanced immigration operations in the Chicago area.
Lake County Government and the City of North Chicago issued a joint statement on Wednesday saying they are aware of recent reports regarding “unprecedented federal operations” that will be based out of Naval Station Great Lakes.
“We understand that these developments have created anxiety and uncertainty for many in our community, and we want to speak directly to those concerns,” the statement said.
The government bodies said the county will continue to be a “welcoming community for all people, embracing every race, religion, ethnicity, immigration status, gender, sexual orientation, age or ability.”
“Lake County’s commitment to inclusion and dignity for every resident will not waiver, no matter the challenges we face,” the statement added.
Officials from North Chicago and Lake Bluff met on Tuesday with the Naval police and representatives from federal agencies as part of a debrief on the operations.
“They did not share a lot of details [with us] but enough to prepare us for protests and other things,” North Chicago Chief of Staff Gregory Jackson said Thursday.
Logistics and command are being set up at the naval base to support the contingent of ICE agents in the field.
Jackson said the agents are not living at the naval base and will likely be staying at hotels in surrounding suburbs, such as Waukegan and Gurnee.
The enhanced immigration operation is expected to last approximately 30 days.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on Wednesday said there is no official confirmation yet, but he has heard that ICE would be assembled and ready to go on Friday and then begin immigration enforcement actions on Saturday.
Jackson said there was also no definitive information to say the operation would be confined to only the City of Chicago.
The City of North Chicago has approximately a 40% Latino population, and the City of Waukegan also has a high number of Latino residents.
“People are genuinely scared. We hear it from them,” Jackson said, adding that when residents are fearful of the federal government, it also impacts the local level.
“We want to make sure we don’t jeopardize our relationships with the community,” Jackson said. City officials are trying to reassure the community, which is “concerned and nervous.”
A protest organized by the Party of Socialism and Liberation (PSL) is set to take place at 12 p.m. on Saturday outside the main gate to Naval Station Great Lakes on the corner of Sheridan Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
Jackson said that law enforcement is prepared for the protest to ensure community safety.
Trump on Tuesday said that the National Guard would also be deployed to Chicago, but did not provide a timeframe.
Jackson said local officials have heard “very little” about a potential National Guard deployment.
He believes that the National Guard would only be called if things got out of control, including resistance to action by ICE, like what occurred in California.
The organization committee for the Fiestas Patrias Parade, taking place in North Chicago and Waukegan, announced on Wednesday that they were postponing the parade that was scheduled for September 14 due to the immigration operation.
The organization said hosting the parade poses risks to families and vulnerable members of the community.
“It was also considered that this situation could be interpreted as a potential call to immigration authorities since thousands of attendees were expected and the large numbers would be eye-catching,” the committee said.