Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made it clear on Thursday that the administration has no plans to ease up on its fight with Democratic-led cities. Instead, she announced her department is moving forward with plans to buy up buildings in both Chicago and Portland to expand operations, even adding that federal buildings already in use will see tighter security measures that include snipers.
“We’re purchasing more buildings in Chicago to operate out of. We’re goina not back off, in fact we’re doubling down and we’re going to be in more parts of Chicago,” Noem said during a Cabinet meeting. She also revealed she personally toured sites in Chicago and confirmed federal authorities are eyeing properties in Portland as well.
Her comments come as tensions between the Trump administration and leaders in Illinois and Oregon continue to escalate. City and state officials have been fighting to keep federal forces out, even going to court to block National Guard deployments that the administration insists are necessary to protect federal officers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Chicago’s mayor recently signed an executive order banning ICE from using city-owned garages, parking lots, or vacant property to stage personnel and equipment, creating what she called “ICE free zones.” But Noem dismissed city leaders outright. “I was in Portland on Tuesday, and met the governor, met with the mayor, met with the chief of police…
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. If we have to do it the hard way in Portland and Chicago, we will.”
Her remarks landed just before key rulings in the courts. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily allowed the Trump administration to federalize the Oregon National Guard but upheld a ban on deploying those troops into Portland for now. “Thus, the effect of granting an administrative stay preserves the status quo in which the National Guard members have been federalized but not deployed,” the judges wrote.
Illinois leaders are making their case in court as well, accusing Trump of overstepping his authority. They have argued that forcing federal troops into their city without approval ignores local pleas and risks fueling chaos. The issue has sparked packed courtrooms filled with residents worried about what could come next.
Trump himself has not been shy about weighing in. In a Truth Social post earlier this month, he bragged, “The only reason crime is somewhat down in Memphis is because the FBI, and others in the Federal Government, at my direction, have been working there for 5 months – on the absolutely terrible Crime numbers. Likewise, in Chicago and Los Angeles! But the real work by us has barely begun. That happens after we make the official announcement that WE’RE COMING, and when we do that, as we did in now VERY SAFE WASHINGTON, D.C., the no crime ‘miracle’ begins. ONLY I CAN SAVE THEM!!!”
Later, he went after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, writing that they “should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!”
In the courtroom, Justice Department lawyer Eric Hamilton echoed the administration’s stance, telling the judge, “Chicago is seeing a brazen new form of hostility from rioters targeting federal law enforcement. They’re not protesters. There is enough that there is a danger of a rebellion here, which there is.”
But not everyone is convinced. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek pushed back in a letter, saying, “Our citizen soldiers deserve better than to be uprooted from their families and careers, only to be mobilized for an illegal mission.”