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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that the Trump administration is looking at purchasing more facilities in Chicago and Portland, doubling down on their illegal immigration operations despite the cities’ sanctuary statuses.
Noem, along with other Cabinet members, met with President Donald Trump on Thursday to brief him on their respective agencies.
“What I’m also doing, sir, with your authority, is we’re purchasing more buildings in Chicago to operate out of,” Noem told Trump during the Cabinet meeting. “We’re not going to back off. In fact, we’re doubling down, and we’re going to be in more parts of Chicago in response to the people there.”
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She also said she met with officials and authorities in Portland, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility has faced violence for over 100 straight nights, according to Camilla Wamsley, director of Portland’s ICE office, who previously spoke to Fox News.
“We’re looking at new facilities to purchase there in Portland, too, and we’re going to double down,” Noem said. “I told them that 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.”
Leaders in Chicago and Portland have clashed with Trump over immigration enforcement and his decision to send National Guard troops to protect federal personnel and property amid escalating anti-ICE protests.
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“This is a man who has something stuck in his head. He can’t get it out of his head,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said of Trump. “He doesn’t read. He doesn’t know anything that’s up to date. It’s just something in the recesses of his brain that’s effectuating his callout of these cities.”
Earlier this week, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek directed the U.S. Northern Command to take “immediate action” to demobilize Oregon’s 200 National Guard members and California’s 200 National Guard members, who were deployed to Portland to protect federal property and personnel near the facility.
On Thursday, Noem noted that she had met with Kotek and Portland leaders and authorities, saying they were “lying and disingenuous and dishonest people, because as soon as you leave the room, they make the exact opposite response.”
She also said that extra security measures were being taken to protect federal buildings following a shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas and attacks against ICE agents.
“So we’re hardening all of our buildings 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,” she said.
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