Democratic U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth were turned away Friday from offices at Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago that are being used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as an operations hub for immigrant enforcement actions in Chicago.
The senators, joined by local Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider of Highland Park, met with Navy officials for about 90 minutes. But when they sought to meet with DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, “The office was locked and no one was there,” Duckworth said. “They fled, and they’re hiding, and that is a clear indication of how secretive they want to be on this effort.”
U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin arrive at Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago with U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, behind them, to speak on Sept. 5, 2025, in opposition to President Donald Trump’s plan to use the station as a hub for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Durbin, Duckworth and Schneider were told by Navy officials that DHS will have office space but will not have barracks for people taken into ICE custody, and that agents stationed at the base will not be able to sleep there. DHS also cannot store lethal weaponry at the base.
But the three said they wanted those details in writing from DHS.
“All our communication with them is oral. They don’t put anything in writing. Their mission is to scare people and put the community on edge,” Duckworth said.
The two senators also announced they had filed amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2026 to try to push back against President Donald Trump’s threats to deploy the military to cities across the country, including Chicago. These amendments would provide greater congressional oversight over a president’s use of the military for law enforcement operations in American cities, including without the consent or request of a state’s elected officials.
The senators’ visit to North Chicago came as Chicago and its suburbs braced for immigration sweeps and as many people continued protesting, including dozens outside an ICE processing center in Broadview on Friday morning. Katrina Thompson, the mayor of the near-west suburb, said in a letter to residents that Trump administration officials have told her and other leaders in town that a “large-scale enforcement campaign will soon be underway” and is likely to continue for about 45 days nonstop.
The protest preceded several other planned gatherings of immigrant groups and allies, including at least one additional demonstration against the administration’s plans and multiple celebrations for Mexican Independence Day expected this month.
For two weeks, Trump and members of his administration have threatened and declared that an influx of federal agents was set to arrive in Chicago. Trump has also said he has considered sending National Guard troops to Chicago to focus on crime in the city, even though crime numbers have declined in recent years. A deployment of ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents is expected to be more focused on the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on immigration.
Gov. JB Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and dozens of other mostly Democratic officials have vehemently voiced their opposition to any additional federal enforcement measures, especially the positioning of guard troops on the streets of the nation’s third-largest city. Still, Pritzker and the others have said they expect an increased federal presence as soon as Saturday.
Trump on Friday kept Chicago dangling on whether he would indeed deploy the National Guard to the city as part of the planned ICE immigration crackdown.
Asked by reporters in the Oval Office if he had made a decision on which city he would next send the guard, Trump said, “I have. I’m not going to say it now. But yeah, I have. We’re going to go into another place and straighten it out.”
Trump has made contradictory statements over the last several days, saying both “we’re going in” to Chicago and expressing his desire to be asked by Pritzker to seek the president’s deployment of the guard, something Pritzker has repeatedly said he won’t do.
Trump also has cited other potential cities for military deployment, including Baltimore, Boston and New Orleans. On Friday, he talked about Portland, Oregon, which has seen repeated anti-ICE protests over the last several weeks.
“That was not on my list, Portland,” Trump said, contending that violent incidents were the work of “agitators” who were “paid money by radical left groups.” He added: “And when we go there, if we go to Portland, we’re going to wipe them out.”
Women with signs stating “Know your rights” listen in as Latino elected officials and community leaders denounce the Trump administration’s increased ICE enforcement during an event in Little Village on Sept. 5, 2025. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Despite the threat of immigration raids, major Mexican Independence Day celebrations in Pilsen and Little Village, two of Chicago’s predominantly Latino neighborhoods, are expected to proceed as planned, community leaders told reporters Friday while also noting there will be some additional precautions.
The announcement came one day after organizers of El Grito Chicago, a two-day Mexican Independence Day festival scheduled for downtown Chicago next weekend, announced that the event would be postponed.
The Little Village parade, which is scheduled for next Sunday, Sept. 14, will have additional private security, immigration lawyers and a rapid response team for immigration rights, said Jennifer Aguilar, executive director of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce. The Pilsen parade this Saturday will have additional volunteers “maintaining vigilance” and keeping an eye out for immigration enforcement, according to Rigoberto Gonzalez, executive director of the United Merchants of Pilsen Chamber of Commerce.
The 54th annual parade in Little Village may see lower turnout, Aguilar said. Community leaders and elected officials speaking Friday in front of the iconic Little Village Arch cautioned people who may be worried about immigration enforcement to stay home if they feel uncomfortable, but they also encouraged community allies to turn out in support.
“If you show up, be proud but also be smart. If you fall into provocation, your family and your neighbors may pay for it,” said U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García.
U.S. and Mexican flags for sale fly in the wind as people wait for a bus at 26th Street near the arch in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood on Sept. 5, 2025. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
As a child, Aguilar thought the Mexican Independence Day parade was the happiest day of the year, she said. She said she thinks it still will be this year, because it’s what the community needs.
“It’s an act of pride, an act of resistance during these times,” she said. “For me, it’s personal to move forward with the parade and to still let us have joy despite everything that is going on.”
Also in anticipation of stepped-up ICE enforcement and potential National Guard mobilization, a new coalition of progressive activists and labor unions has been formed under the umbrella name Hands Off Chicago.
“Hands Off Chicago is a campaign to help Illinois residents get involved in pushing back against the military and ICE presence, download resources and stay connected to a community of other Chicagoans who are ready to defend our city and our neighbors,” Bob Reiter, the president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, said in a statement.
“This is going to be a challenging time. But one thing is for sure — we’re Chicagoans. We stick together and no one is going to intimidate us out of standing up for what’s right,” Reiter said.
In addition to the CFL, the coalition includes the Illinois AFL-CIO, progressive activist organization Indivisible Chicago, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights, Personal PAC, Equality Illinois and Sierra Club Illinois.
In announcing its formation, the coalition said it and its supporting organizations “are committed to nonviolent action” and that all of its supporters are expected to “practice non-violence and to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.”
Another group that includes a more progressive membership, including the Chicago Teachers Union and United Working Families, is the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda, which has scheduled a downtown rally and march at 5 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Ida B. Wells Drive and Michigan Avenue.
The uncertainty over the federal government’s plans for Chicago led Pritzker to call off plans to join a state trade mission to Japan.
The trip, announced Friday, will take officials from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Illinois Economic Development Corp., a public-private partnership known until recently as Intersect Illinois, to a trade conference in Tokyo from Sunday through Tuesday.
“Team Illinois will have a strong presence at the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association’s Annual Conference in Japan to strengthen the state’s economic relationship with key trading partners and international businesses,” Pritzker spokesman Andres Correa said in a statement. “Gov. Pritzker and his team are supporting their efforts but will remain in the U.S. as the Trump administration threatens the state with unprecedented overreach.”
Chicago Tribune’s Dan Petrella contributed. Sadin is a freelance reporter.