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 Sun-Times.
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 request 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 the blitz, sources previously told the Sun-Times. Federal agents were set to leave the base by 5 a.m. every day 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 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 in with shields, which has continued as more agents arrived last weekend, another source familiar with base operations told the Sun-Times.
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.
