CHICAGO (WLS) — The Chicago Police Department is gearing up for the potential deployment of National Guard troops, and on Thursday, city officials provided the City Council with an update about the anticipated response.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and Police Superintendent Larry Snelling offered insights to the press, yet many questions lingered. The superintendent was queried on how the police would engage with the Guard.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
“It’s challenging to provide an answer without knowing if the Guard will arrive, what their directives will be, and their intended role. The crucial element here is maintaining communication to ensure the situation remains calm and orderly, and that peace is preserved in our city,” Snelling emphasized.
SEE ALSO: Trump administration asks Naval Station Great Lakes for support on Chicago immigration operations
“We’ve received no communication from the White House about the president’s supposed plan to deploy federal troops to cities across the nation; he hasn’t discussed this with us,” Johnson mentioned.
President Trump has consistently suggested sending the Guard to Chicago to aid in crime control, mirroring actions taken in Washington, D.C., though he has not provided specific plans or timelines.
The Department of Homeland Security has requested “limited support in terms of facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs for DHS operations,” from Naval Station Great Lakes, according to Matt Mogle, a base spokesperson.
It was not clear if the National Guard will be part of that deployment.
“The thing is, we don’t want to raise any fears. We don’t want to create any speculation around what’s going on until we have concrete information. We don’t put anything out there. As information trickles in, we prepare around that information. But right now, the communication is limited,” Superintendent Snelling said.
The police superintendent says the department will remain ready for whatever.
Two boys were shot on the the city’s South Side on Thursday. Alderman Richard Lopez said “If having national guardsmen on hand to increase uniform presence keeps our youth from getting shot, what’s the …problem?”
The city is also preparing for immigration operations.
The surge in United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents could be similar to the stepped up enforcement operation in Los Angeles.
There, the National Guard was deployed in a support role.
“We recognize fully that the moment is causing much stress and fear in the immigrant community, and I think that’s why it’s important that our team has worked, looked at different ways that we can continue to support immigrants and refugees,” said Beatriz Ponce de Leon, deputy mayor of Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights.
RELATED: How could President Trump use the National Guard in Chicago?
The mayor’s team is also stepping up its efforts to inform the immigrant community of its rights and how it can best prepare for any largescale ICE operation and the potential for families to be separated.
The Naval Base is located in Congressman Brad Schneider’s district. He’s concerned about how it might be used.
“It is an essential component of the military preparedness and security of our nation, and we should be focused on making sure that they have the resources they need and nothing interrupts their mission,” Schneider said.
CNN is reporting that armored vehicles are being sent to Chicago, and there will be a surge of federal agents in the city by Sept. 5. Border Czar Tom Homan confirmed Chicago is one of the cities that will be targeted.
“We’re gonna take the assets we have and move them to problems areas, like sanctuary cities, where we know for a fact they’re releasing public safety threats, illegal aliens in the streets every day. That’s where we need to send the majority of the resources, and that’s where they’re going,” Homan said.
Sources say the Trump administration will ramp up immigration enforcement in Chicago as soon as next Friday.
At a budget town hall event Thursday on Chicago’s North Side, Mayor Johnson made a defiant statement.
Congressman Mike Quigley said the National Guard is not going to make Chicago safer. The comments were made after a speech to the City Club, that some saw as a precursor to a campaign for mayor.
“It concerns me that it sends a terrible message,” Quigley said. “There’s a reason that the business community, the convention community and law local law enforcement, doesn’t want this to happen. It sends us in the wrong direction.”
Police officers will all be in uniform if there is any federal deployment to Chicago to make sure residents know who they are. If there is any immigration enforcement, a supervisor would be dispatched to assess the situation.
“When federal agents come in to do work, and whatever they decide to do when it comes to arrest, things of that nature, the Chicago Police Department does not, cannot and will not interfere with the work that federal agents are doing,” Snelling said.
But CPD will not take part in any immigration-related enforcement, he said.
He said the department will remain ready to respond to whatever happens.
“Are we preparing for one or two things? Specifically, no, we’re preparing to make sure that we have the manpower in place that does not include canceling vacations,” Snelling said.
But if the Guard comes to Chicago and protests erupt, the superintendent expressed concerns about how soldiers might respond.
“Chicago police are told to deescalate. They’re told to disengage. They’re told they have to stand there when someone is hurling abuse at them, insulting them, even pushing them or physically confronting them. Federal troops will not act with such restraint,” said Ald. Brian Hopkins, char of the Public Safety Committee.
Copyright © 2025 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.
