The Department of Homeland Security is eyeing the purchase of buildings in Chicago and Portland that would be used as bases for expanded immigration enforcement operations and will keep pushing ahead in the cities, Secretary Kristi Noem said at Thursday's Cabinet meeting.
"We're going to not back off," she told President Donald Trump and her fellow Cabinet members. "In fact, we're doubling down, and we're going to be in more parts of Chicago in response to the people there."
Noem said that she was in Chicago a few days ago and looked at some facilities "that we can deploy more law enforcement out of."
Still, she accused people in Chicago of using "riots and violence" to distract us and keep us from going after "those murderers and rapists that are out in the streets."
The secretary also spoke of "hardening" the federal buildings in Chicago and Portland and "making sure that we have more security measures, snipers on the roof, people to protect our law enforcement while they're out there on the streets."
Noem said the new facilities would allow federal agents deploy from local bases rather than relying on cooperation from city governments.
Earlier this week, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order establishing "ICE-free zones" that bar federal immigration agents from using city-owned property as staging areas or bases for civil immigration enforcement.
Noem also said that when she was in Portland on Tuesday, she met with Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Mayor Keith Wilson, and Police Chief Bob Day — and accused them all of lying about conditions on the ground in the city.
"They are all lying, and disingenuous, and dishonest people," she said. "I told them if they didn't meet our demands for safety and security on the streets and work with us, then we were going to bring in more federal law enforcement."
Wilson, in a statement after meeting with Noem this week, said that he will continue to maintain that the "tactics used by federal agents at the ICE facility are troubling and likely unconstitutional."
Further, he said city officials "do not know what 'full force' against Portland means, or how the administration plans to use our city as a military 'training ground.'"
"Because of these deeply concerning situational unknowns, I intend to explore options to protect our community and our right to free expression," he said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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