CHICAGO () The Department of Homeland Security plans to purchase more property in the Chicago area as part of a plan to further support and protect federal agents and officers involved in the ongoing multi-agency enforcement operations, DHS Secretary Noem said Thursday.

Speaking at a Trump administration cabinet meeting, Noem did not offer specifics about ICE’s expansion plan but said the agency “is going to buy more buildings in Chicago.” ICE’s processing center in suburban Broadview has remained a hotspot of protests involving tear gas, rubber bullets and other non-lethal weapons since Operation Midway Blitz began on September 8.

However, in recent weeks, federal officers and agents have deployed tear gas and other chemical agents in local neighborhoods, where encounters between the feds and local protesters have continued to escalate.

Noem said Thursday that she toured several properties during a visit to Chicago last week, when she was spotted on the roof of the ICE processing center in Broadview as more clashes between federal officers and agents and protesters took place. Noem also clashed with Broadview village officials over their perceived lack of cooperation and pushback over the presence of federal officers.

DHS officials recently announced that the agency has made more than 1,000 arrests during Operation Midway Blitz. Without providing specifics, the added space would give ICE more facilities that federal officers and troops could be deployed out of in response to continued protests.

“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 on the street,” Noem said.

She added, “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.”

An ICE spokesperson directed to DHS in response to a request for more specifics about the expansion plans. The City of Chicago and the Village of Broadview did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

This week, hundreds of National Guard troops from Texas and Illinois arrived in suburban Chicago with plans to protect ICE officers and Customs and Border Protection agencies and properties. Yet, part of DHS’s plans for expanded support is to add facilities from which federal officers can work, Noem said on Thursday. Similar plans are in place for Portland, Noem said.

Noem said in response to the deadly shooting at the Dallas ICE field office in late September, more preventative measures are being taken, including placing more snipers on the roof of buildings. Noem also said similar expansion plans are scheduled for Portland, where anti-ICE protests have led to federal officers and agents clashing with demonstrators.

President Donald Trump continued to criticize Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for not cooperating with federal efforts and for criticizing plans to deploy the National Guard.

Trump suggested that Pritzker and Johnson should be jailed for their handling of what administration officials say are increased attacks on ICE officers. Two people have been shot over the past month in incidents in which DHS officials said federal officers were targeted by an immigrant and a protester.

In each case, DHS officials said that federal officers were being attacked, while local advocacy groups and elected officials maintain that the feds have overstepped their bounds in going after enforcement targets they consider to be the “worst of the worst.”

Trump said Thursday that he “doesn’t understand the politics of it,” insisting that residents want federal officers and agents in place to cut down on violent crime. Pritzker and Johnson have countered that the ongoing federal occupation of Chicago is about intimidation rather than dealing with the city’s crime and public safety issues.

Noem said that despite meeting with elected officials and other local law enforcement in Portland, she will increase the number of National Guard troops that are deployed if local politicians don’t cooperate.

“If we have to do it the hard way in Portland and Chicago, we will,” Noem said.

Johnson, Chicago’s mayor, continues to vehemently oppose plans for militarized action in the city and has accused the Trump administration of trampling on the U.S. Constitution. A legal battle remains ongoing about the legality of Trump deploying the National Guard without Pritzker’s authorization.

“It has declared war on American cities in particularly Chicago,” Johnson said this week.