Chicago defiant amid plan for ICE surge

Mayor's order bars cooperation with immigration agents in expanded operations.

- By AAMER MADHANI AND MarGeEry A. BECK

CHICAGO Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, left, have denounced the mobilization plan.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that immigration operations will soon be expanded in Chicago, confirming plans for a stepped-up presence of federal agents in the nation’s third-largest city as President Trump continues to lash out at Illinois’ Democratic leadership.

Noem’s comments came a day after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson struck back against what he called the “out-of-control” plan to surge federal officers into the city. The Chicago Police Department will be barred from helping federal authorities with civil immigration enforcement or any related patrols, traffic stops and checkpoints during the surge, according to an executive order Johnson signed Saturday.

The Homeland Security Department last week requested limited logistical support from officials at the Naval Station Great Lakes to support the agency’s anticipated operations. The military installation is about 35 miles north of Chicago.

“We've already had ongoing operations with ICE in Chicago ... but we do intend to add more resources to those operations,” Noem said during a Sunday appearance CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”