The Trump administration is gearing up for a large-scale immigration enforcement operation in the Chicago area using a Navy base in Illinois as its command center, according to an internal government memo.
According to CBS News, the Department of Homeland Security has requested the use of Naval Station Great Lakes to house 250 federal agents and coordinate a major deportation campaign targeting undocumented immigrants in the Chicago region.
The Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, formally requested access to Naval Station Great Lakes from the Pentagon last week. The station is located approximately 50 miles north of Chicago, along Lake Michigan. This request outlines plans to use parts of the Navy base to host federal immigration agents and vehicles, and to facilitate the removal of immigrants suspected of being in the United States unlawfully.
Naval Station Great Lakes, the largest military installation in Illinois and the U.S. Navy’s biggest recruiting and training base, would serve as a temporary base of operations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and Customs and Border Protection, or CBP. The internal DHS memo proposes that the facility be used for a full month to carry out the enforcement campaign. According to a U.S. official, DHS personnel and resources began arriving earlier this week in preparation for the operation, which could commence as early as Friday. Specific areas within the Chicago metro region targeted for enforcement have not been disclosed.
Details Reveal Increasing Use of Military Resources
The memo, obtained by CBS News, reveals that DHS plans to repurpose the naval site into a command post and tactical operations center. In addition to bunking roughly 250 agents and storing 140 vehicles, DHS has requested the provision of facilities for keeping medical supplies and non-lethal munitions. This developing operation is part of a broader immigration enforcement strategy under President Trump’s second term. The administration has been using the armed forces far more frequently to assist with domestic immigration activities beyond traditional support roles near the border.
In recent years, military aircraft have been used to carry out deportations, and National Guard personnel have been dispatched to back up immigration authorities in detention centers. Several military installations, including Fort Bliss in Texas and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, have already been repurposed to detain immigrants during heightened enforcement phases.
Expanded Military Role Sparks Legal and Political Resistance
The Trump administration’s more assertive stance on immigration has generated political and legal pushback. In June, thousands of National Guard personnel and U.S. Marines were deployed to Los Angeles following unrest linked to immigration-related protests. That decision was made over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom.
A federal court later ruled the deployment unlawful, stating that the administration had knowingly violated laws prohibiting the use of the military in civilian law enforcement actions. Despite this ruling, federal officials have continued to utilize military resources in immigration operations nationwide.
Most recently, Guard units and federal personnel were also deployed to Washington, D.C., as part of a broader crime crackdown that included immigration enforcement activity. The Attorney General of the District of Columbia responded with a lawsuit this week opposing the deployment, which included troops from Republican-led states and the District itself.
Operation Secrecy Clouds Scope and Timing
While DHS has not revealed exactly which neighborhoods will be targeted, the internal memo’s request for a 30-day window at the naval installation suggests the effort will span several weeks. The memo underscores the strategic use of federal military infrastructure to support expanded domestic immigration enforcement activities.
The pending Chicago-area operation follows reports from August that the administration was preparing intensified raids in the region. Previous raids by CBP in Southern California included sweeps at retail parking lots, employment centers, and other locations frequented by immigrant communities. The federal government has stayed largely quiet about the request. The Department of Defense, which oversees the naval station, declined to comment publicly on DHS’s planned use of the facility.
Federal Agencies Justify Aggressive Measures
Responding to the report, DHS told CBS News that under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, there would be no safe havens in the country for undocumented immigrants with criminal records. Another DHS statement said individuals who enter the country unlawfully and violate U.S. laws would be apprehended, deported, and barred from returning.
The tone of these statements reflects the administration’s ongoing hardline approach to immigration enforcement. Advocates for immigrant communities have expressed concerns that mass enforcement sweeps may lead to violations of civil liberties and spread fear in neighborhoods with large foreign-born populations.
As federal agents prepare for escalated activity, observers continue to weigh the constitutional and logistical implications of conducting large-scale civilian-focused law enforcement operations from active U.S. military sites. The long-term consequences of this administrative shift in immigration policy remain to be seen.
