Federal immigration agents extending stay at Great Lakes naval base

Federal immigration agents’ use of Naval Station Great Lakes will continue through “at least December,” leaders at Naval Station Great Lakes have been informed, according to an email obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times and a source who was familiar with the plans.

One source confirmed to the Sun-Times that the agreement was strictly verbal but that leadership at the base had been informed of the extension.

Naval Station Great Lakes referred questions to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, both of which didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Federal agents have been using office space at the base to establish a command center for immigration operations, sources familiar with base operations previously told the Sun-Times.

The base will also serve as a parking lot for at least 140 unmarked vehicles used for immigration operations, sources previously told the Sun-Times. Federal agents were set to leave the base by 5 a.m. daily so as not to interfere with normal base operations.

The Defense Department’s request for assistance asked for three nearly 2,400-cubic-foot storage containers for medical supplies and “less lethal munitions,” a spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth previously told the Sun-Times. For months, about 30 to 40 ICE agents had been practicing riot control tactics at the military installation, using flash-bang grenades and marching with shields, a source previously confirmed to the Sun-Times.

A letter from U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., and Duckworth and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin criticized the Defense Department’s previous reliance on “verbal agreements” for the base’s support, saying it was “easily susceptible to mission creep, difficult to communicate widely to all parties involved and not transparent or accountable to the taxpayers and their elected representatives.”

The news comes the same day federal agents threw tear gas in a Chicago neighborhood, this time at the scene of a two-car crash involving a vehicle driven by the federal agents.