NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. (WGN) — Chicagoland is bracing for potential immigration enforcement operations this weekend, a plan that has sparked backlash from local leaders and protests by advocates.

ICE agents and possibly the National Guard will be working out of the Great Lakes Naval Station in North Chicago.

Illinois senators, both Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, were at the naval station Friday, along with Democratic Congressman Brad Schneider.

Both senators have been vocal opponents of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement and the use of the naval station, saying it’s illegal.

“This is not the action of somebody that is proud of what they’re doing, and this is not the action of someone who is doing something legal,” Duckworth said.

The senators requested a meeting with the Department of Homeland Security to try and get detailed plans of exactly what federal agents are planning and how Great Lakes Naval Station will be used.

“They ended up saying they were unavailable and that they were locking the doors to the building that’s being considered and we wouldn’t be able to enter it and see it,” Durbin said. “This kind of secrecy shouldn’t be part of our government.”

The senators say the agreement between DHS and the Navy is that ICE cannot store lethal ammunition, house DHS personnel or detain people at the naval station.

ICE can, however, use office space, parking and store non-lethal ammunition beginning Friday until Oct. 5.

They’ve also sent letters to several cabenet members asking for the justification for the use of the naval station, and possible National Guards involvment — which the president has threatened, but has wavered back and forth over the past several days.

Suburban mayors say they had a meeting with federal agents and warned their communities of possibly 300 ICE agents using the naval station as a base of operations for increased immigration enforcement over the next several weeks.

“At the moment, the National Guard will no longer be charged with protecting the ICE agents and quelling any civil unrest that happens,” Ald. Brian Hopkins said. “Instead, there will be federal agencies that are already here — ATF, FBI — that do have armed agents that are more familiar with policing tactics than the national guard would be.”

Commissioner Sean Morrison is the only Republican on the Cook County Board. He supports the Trump administration’s focus on Chicago, but he’s also nervous.

“I think it’s fair and reasonable. I am worried that there’s going to be violence,” he said.

Governor JB Pritzker believes the raids will begin this weekend.

The fear of the surge in operations is already impacting communities from the city to the northern suburbs.

“Everyone I know is scared,” army veteran Lina Alvarez said. “People are nervous to walk their kids to school, even people who are documented. They are nervous. We are literally altering our day-to-day lives to keep ourselves safe from them.”

But others are optimistic the Trump administration’s plans will aid in the fight to stop violence.

“It’s young Black boys who are being killed every single day on the South Side and West Side of Chicago, and I think we would do any and everything that we could to prevent any of our kids from dying.” said Corey Brooks of Project HOOD.

Trump signals federal action on social media

As Chicagoland braced for the potential operations, President Donald Trump shared a photo on Truth Social on Saturday morning, hinting at the potential raids.

“‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning..'” the president’s image post read. “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the department of war.”

In the photo, which appears to have been generated using artificial intelligence, the president can be seen sitting on a beach in Vietnam era military fatigues, with the Chicago skyline behind him as a fire burns to his left and a collection of military helicopters fly nearby.

Additionally, the image has the words “Chipocalypse Now” written on it.

The image and quote appear to be mimicking a scene from the Vietnam War epic “Apocalypse Now,” during which Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, played by Robert Duvall, is speaking to his troops as they prepare to attack a village, describing the smell of the napalm they plan to use, adding that he loved the smell.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson took to social media to respond to the president’s threat. He wrote:

“The President’s threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution. We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump.”

Pritzker also chastised Trump on the social media platform X. The governor wrote:

“The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal. Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.”

Chicagoland is bracing for potential immigration enforcement operations this weekend, a plan that has sparked protests, including one that began near the naval station on Saturday afternoon.