Senators Dick Durbin, Tammy Duckworth discuss use of Naval Station Great Lakes by ICE agents
Source: CBS NEWS
U.S. Senators for Illinois Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, along with U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), were in Chicago's northern suburbs on Friday to discuss the plans to use nearby Naval Station Great Lakes as a base for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The lawmakers said they did get some answers from the U.S. Navy, but when they tried to get more information from the Department of Homeland Security, they were turned away.
"DHS fled. They fled, and they're hiding, and that is a clear indication of how secretive they want to be on this effort, and so we are deeply concerned, and we are going to stay on top of it," Duckworth said.
The Department of Defense has officially approved the base for use in immigration enforcement operations.
Leaders in the north suburbs are concerned about the impact ICE operations could have on their community. The mayor of North Chiago said he's been told by base officials that agents will be focused south on Chicago, but it's uncertain what the impact of their presence may be on the surrounding communities.
The base will not be used to house federal agents, nor will it be used as barracks for anyone taken into ICE detention. Instead, the Department of Homeland Security will have office space and parking at the base to run the immigration operation in Chicago.
"The Navy personnel are not involved in anything else beyond providing office space and parking," Schneider said.
Navy personnel also assured lawmakers that naval training would not be impacted by the immigration operations there.
Durbin and Duckworth both spoke about the importance of protecting the base's mission and purpose as a naval base, and again denounced the Trump administration's plans to mobilize federal agents for immigration enforcement and threats to send the National Guard in Chicago.
Both also accused President Trump of politicizing the military through his threats to deploy the National Guard.
Rep. Schneider also denounced the steps being taken by the Trump administration and said the president is using Chicago as a distraction to deflect attention from the economy and the impact of the Trump tariffs.
Duckworth said she and other Illinois leaders tried getting answers at the naval base. They met with U.S. Navy personnel for about 90 minutes, discussing Homeland Security's plan for the base.
They then tried to meet with DHS officials in the office space federal officers were provided.
"They ended up saying that they were unavailable, and that they were the locking doors to the building that's going to be considered, and we wouldn't be able to enter it and see it," Durbin said.
CBS News Chicago has learned that the naval base will allow DHS to occupy an office for a month, until Oct. 5. In that time, they'll also have access to storage space for non-lethal munitions, and parking space for officers.
An internal government memo obtained by CBS News shows Homeland Security asked the Pentagon to accommodate nearly 250 federal agents and 140 vehicles at the base.
Naval Station Great Lakes is the Navy's largest training station in the U.S., and neighbors the city of North Chicago, a city with a significant immigrant population, including Army veteran Lina Alvarez.
She's helping to organize a protest against ICE at the base on Saturday afternoon.
"They're not welcome here. We don't want them here. We are a community here. It's a Black and Brown community, and we support each other, and we just want to live our lives. We don't want to walk around in fear," Alvarez said. "It hurts to see my community attacked."
Alvarez said she was deployed three times to Iraq and once to Afghanistan.
"While I was serving, I've had people tell me - I've let people know, 'Hey, I come from a family of immigrants' – telling people, like, maybe my family should go back to where they came from. It hurts"
Now retired, she said it's important for her to speak up.
"I'm not trying to be a spokesperson for all of the community, but everyone I know, we feel much safer without ICE walking the streets," she said.
The Trump administration's timing for the immigration enforcement push in Chicago remained unclear as of Friday afternoon.
President Trump said earlier this week that his administration was sending federal agents, not the National Guard, to Chicago, but didn't say when.
Gov. JB Pritzker has said that immigration enforcement operation could begin as early as this weekend.
By: Sabrina Franza, Sara Tenenbaum
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