Feds Plan Chicago Real Estate Spree Amid ICE Crackdown

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is gearing up to expand its real estate footprint in the Chicago area as part of the Trump administration’s escalating immigration crackdown.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday the agency plans to “purchase more buildings in Chicago to operate out of,” though she didn’t specify locations, as first reported by the Chicago Tribune. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has long run a processing center in Broadview, a west suburban site that’s become a flashpoint between agents and protesters.

“We’re doubling down, and we’re going to be in more parts of Chicago,” Noem said during a cabinet meeting. “What they’re trying to do with these riots and violence is distract us and keep us from going after those murderers and rapists that are out in the streets.”

The comments followed Noem’s visit to Broadview last week, where she told ICE and Border Patrol agents she wanted to buy a nearby building. The Broadview location has served as the command center for Chicagoland operations.

Conservative influencers embedded with the administration’s deportation campaign later posted videos of Noem and officials touring vacant warehouses across the metro area as potential ICE sites. It’s unclear which facilities DHS is pursuing or whether purchases are imminent.

The real estate push adds a new layer to the federal government’s growing physical presence in and around Chicago. The Sun-Times reported National Guard troops began arriving outside the city this week, including at the Broadview facility, while courts weigh the legality of the deployment.

The agency also ramped up security spending recently. Noem said DHS is “hardening all of our buildings” in response to a September shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas, adding that measures could include rooftop snipers and expanded protective teams.

DHS did not respond to questions from Crain’s about where or how it plans to expand. But any purchases could ripple through the region’s industrial and office markets, where federal tenants often pay top dollar and can alter local property dynamics overnight, leaving little room for legal recourse. It was also unclear why DHS is considering purchasing locales rather than renting space.

Meanwhile, the federal government said in March it plans to cancel leases and shut down Chicago offices for Health and Human Services and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

— Eric Weilbacher