Officials and community leaders are bristling at plans from the Trump administration to conduct a major immigration enforcement initiative in Chicago, an apparent expansion of the president’s previously announced plans to bring in the National Guard.
“Let me be clear: there is no emergency here − he wants to bait us,” Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, a Democrat, wrote on social media after the news broke on Aug. 28. “Trump’s plan to attack Chicago has nothing to do with immigration. This con of his has nothing to do with safety.”
Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson, both Democrats, have also criticized Trump’s plans, as the president attacks their handling of crime in Chicago and promotes a heavier-handed approach.
More: ICE planning major operations in Chicago as soon as next week
Trump said Chicago is next after DC National Guard deployment
Trump border czar Tom Homan told reporters earlier in the day that there had been discussions about using a naval base just north of Chicago as an operations center for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but he noted it was still in the planning phase.
“We’re not going to tell you how many resources we’re going to send to the city,” Homan said of the operation. “We don’t want the bad guys to know what we’re sending. It would be a large contingent.”
More: As Democrats try to defend cities from Trump, have they learned their lesson on crime?
Trump identified Chicago on Aug. 22 as the “next one” to have the National Guard mobilized after Washington, DC. That city’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, said Aug. 27 that the increased federal presence in her city was “almost exclusively focused on immigration enforcement and homeless encampment enforcement.”
A political action committee affiliated with Trump sent out a fundraising email from Trump on Aug. 28 asking whether he should activate the National Guard nationwide to protect American cities. “Our great American cities are FALLING APART,” the email said. “Many are afraid to go outside at night!”
Among American cities with more than 500,000 people, Chicago has one of the lowest violent crime rates, according to a USA TODAY analysis of FBI data, ranking 29th out of 37 in 2024. But it has the 10th highest murder rate, ahead of cities such as Houston, Nashville and Philadelphia.
“I urge our federal government to listen to the advocates, experts, and Chicagoans who are calling for resources that stop the endless flow of guns in our city as well as transformational investments in housing, education, mental health, and community safety,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, said in an Aug. 27 news release.
Johnson said those “proven strategies” are leading to “historic reductions in crime and violence.” Statistics from his office show a 49% decrease from Aug. 25, 2024, to Aug. 25, 2025, in carjackings, a 45% decrease in mass shootings, a 37% decrease in overall shootings and a 32% decrease in murders.
He said in a statement Aug. 29 that reports of escalated immigration enforcement were “deeply concerning.” He said his administration would work to make sure Chicago residents know their rights and said he was launching “a Family Preparedness campaign so that families know what to do to prepare in the event of a detention by federal agents.”
‘We feel disrespected’
“Governor Pritzker had 6 murders in Chicago this weekend,” Trump wrote on social media Aug. 28, “20 people were shot. But he doesn’t want to ask me for help. Can this be possible? The people are desperate for me to STOP THE CRIME, something the Democrats aren’t capable of doing. STAY TUNED!!!”
The previous day, Trump wrote: “Panic stricken Governor Pritzker says that crime is under control, when in fact it is just the opposite. He is an incompetent Governor who should call me for HELP. Mayor Johnson is no better. Make Chicago Great Again!”
Marlon Chamberlain, executive director of the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishment, told USA TODAY: “We feel disrespected when we hear someone in the highest office in the country talk about the place where we live without having direct conversations with folks that are on the ground.”
“This is not about public safety,” Chamberlain said. “I think everybody sort of knows that this is sort of political bullying that is happening.”
If the administration really wants to help Chicago fix root problems behind crime and violence, “the community is saying, ‘Here’s what we need.’ Folks that have dedicated their lives to doing this work,” he said.
Richard Wallace, the Founder and Director of Equity and Transformation, a nonprofit focused on social and economic equity for Black workers, told USA TODAY he’s focused on ensuring people know their rights, have access to legal assistance and, if unhoused, that they can access financial aid.
“We’re going to respond to them with love,” Wallace said. “The spirit that the National Guard is entering with, we’re going to show them a clear contrast.”
Contributing: USA TODAY reporters Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Michael Loria, Trevor Hughes.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chiacgo officials bristle as Trump readies flood of ICE agents
