Duckworth, Durbin & Schneider Visit Naval Station Great Lakes, Locked Out By DHS

Duckworth, Durbin & Schneider Visit Naval Station Great Lakes, Locked Out By DHS

[NORTH CHICAGO, IL] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) to visit Naval Station Great Lakes amid President Trump's plans to support U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers and his threats to deploy the military to Chicago.

"The DHS officials Trump sent to Naval Station Great Lakes didn't just refuse to meet with us today, they actually locked their doors and fled the base. I'm deeply concerned by how little transparency this Administration is providing when it comes to deploying federal agents and our troops into our cities to intimidate Americans in their own communities. If they were proud of what they are doing or if they believed it was legal, why would they be so secretive? Trump's continued threats against Chicago are just another effort to distract us from his own scandals, and we shouldn't let him do that, especially if it means also distracting our servicemembers from their core mission of protecting our nation," said Duckworth.

"The Naval Station Great Lakes is one of the most important training facilities our nation has," said Durbin. "I've been honored to work alongside my colleagues to support this base with federal funding over the years, all to assist them with accomplishing their mission to defend our country's national security. President Trump's act of political theater not only gets in the way of that mission, but threatens the safety and wellbeing of the community as he uses this as a staging ground for his mass deportation efforts. My colleagues and I will use every tool at our disposal to prevent this illegal, unconstitutional, and existential threat to our democracy."

"I have every confidence the leadership and sailors at Naval Station Great Lakes will do whatever is necessary to ensure nothing interferes with their essential mission. Nevertheless, it's beyond shameful that President Trump is even considering upending normal operations at a base so crucial to our military readiness and national security as Naval Station Great Lakes. It just shows how far he's willing to go to abuse his power and stage his reality show - even bringing the men and women who devote their lives to keeping us safe into his absurd political theatrics," said Schneider.

During the lawmakers' meeting at the base, they were taken through the process of how the Naval Station Great Lakes' involvement with President Trump's plans came to be. The base was first contacted on August 14^th by the Trump Administration and asked if they could make space available for DHS to be occupied for the next month. Durbin, Duckworth, and Schneider requested a meeting with DHS and were denied, as well as locked out of the office space that DHS intends to use after requesting entry. DHS has not provided any transparency into its plans for how this military base will be used by DHS officials, which component of DHS will be using the base, and whether the use of this base is necessary given existing field offices in the Chicagoland area.

Photos of the press conference held after the lawmakers' visit can be viewed here.