Overview
- Homeland Security vacated its Naval Station Great Lakes command center on Friday after more than two months of use for Operation Midway Blitz, according to a naval station source and local officials.
- The site, secured since Sept. 5, served as office, training and storage space for agents coordinating Chicago-area enforcement actions.
- North Chicago and Waukegan officials said the departure lets residents breathe easier and reaffirmed commitments to support immigrant communities.
- Organizers warned that immigration arrests by ICE are likely to continue in Illinois even as Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and many agents left, with law enforcement sources saying they could return next spring.
- The drawdown followed recent clashes and 21 arrests near ICE’s Broadview facility, and federal officials the same day confirmed a new enforcement surge in Charlotte, North Carolina.