The Department of Homeland Security has left its command center at Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, a source associated with the naval station confirmed to the Sun-Times on Saturday.
DHS officials first mentioned their plans to vacate the command center roughly two weeks ago and have been moving out of the property this week, the source said.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The departure comes two months after DHS first secured the property to support “Operation Midway Blitz,” President Donald Trump’s escalated deportation campaign in the Chicago area.
At the time, the Sun-Times reported that the command center would provide office space, parking spots and portable laundry units to the federal agents. It has also functioned as a training and storage facility.
The departure is the latest sign that the feds appear to have shifted their focus from Chicago. In October, the Sun-Times reported that DHS had plans to use the North Chicago command center through “at least December.”
But this week, law enforcement sources told the Sun-Times that U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and many of his agents had left Chicago but could return next spring for an expanded operation.
The departure also comes after a clash between local law enforcement officers and protesters, including faith leaders, outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Broadview led to 21 arrests.
On Saturday, federal officials confirmed that a surge of immigration enforcement in Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city, had begun as agents were seen making arrests in multiple locations.
“Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens hurting them, their families, or their neighbors,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed.”
Local officials, including Mayor Vi Lyles, criticized such actions, saying in a statement that they “are causing unnecessary fear and uncertainty.”
“We want people in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County to know we stand with all residents who simply want to go about their lives,” the statement said. It was also signed by Mecklenburg County Commissioner Mark Jerrell and Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member Stephanie Sneed.
Contributing: Associated Press