Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday that the agency plans to buy additional buildings in the Chicago area to expand its presence in the city.
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Noem said she looked at facilities from which to deploy more Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in her visit last week to the Chicago suburb of Broadview, where an ICE processing building is located. Noem didn't elaborate on the locations of the buildings the department is looking to buy, nor the timeline for doing so.
“We’re purchasing more buildings in Chicago to operate out of,” Noem said. “We’re going to not back off. In fact, we’re doubling down, and we’re going to be in more parts of Chicago in response to the people there.”
Noem claimed the “riots and violence” in response to the immigration enforcement actions in the city aims to distract the federal government from going after criminals in the streets. Noem said President Donald Trump authorized the building purchases for the agency.
Five hundred National Guard members arrived in the Chicago area on Wednesday despite an ongoing lawsuit from the state and city challenging their deployment. Hundreds of people took to the streets Wednesday night to protest the deployment.
This week marks one month since DHS launched “Operation Midway Blitz,” an ICE campaign targeting Chicago and Illinois. Border Patrol launched a separate campaign called “Operation At Large.” Combined, the actions have led to the arrest of at least 1,000 people, ICE Chicago Field Office Director Russell Hott told Block Club Chicago.
The agency won't disclose who it has arrested or for what alleged crimes in a vast majority of the cases, according to the outlet.
On Thursday, a federal judge ruled that federal agents aren't allowed to use tear gas, pepper spray and other weapons against journalists and peaceful protesters. This followed a lawsuit from Block Club and others over the federal government's actions against journalists outside the Broadview facility.
Last week, federal agents forcefully handcuffed 26th Ward Alderperson Jessie Fuentes and threw a smoke bomb onto a crowded street near a school. The week prior, the agency raided a large apartment complex in South Shore and detained families and children.
In the past 30 days, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has signed three executive orders to protect residents from the immigration crackdown: one directing federal agents to follow city laws on policing, a second to protect the rights of protesters and a third banning federal agents from using city-owned property for civil immigration operations.
“We are literally creating a system of protection that doesn’t exist right now because Congress refuses to hold this president accountable,” Johnson said, according to Block Club.
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