Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who’s overseeing President Donald Trump’s mass deportations, sparked a protest at a charity holiday event at Navy Pier Saturday.
Dozens of protesters gathered nearby as Noem presided over the 26th annual “Christmas Tree Ship,” a tradition in which crews aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw unload trees to be trucked to local charities for families in need. The annual event is normally free of controversy.
At a morning ceremony, Noem offered thanks to the Coast Guard, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, and to the volunteers supporting the tree effort. She told the crowd that she hopes people “recognize that we’re bringing them news of happiness and peace.”
During her speech protesters on the other side of the park were heard chanting “Kristi Noem go home.”
They were moved away from the ceremony by Chicago Police officers who told protesters they could not stand on Navy Pier property, where the ceremony was held.
One volunteer said she was surprised to see protesters at the typically cheerful event.
“There’s a time and a place for protesting and this isn’t it,” said Susan Jobst, who has been volunteering at the event with her daughter for six years.
Noem has drawn criticism for a deportation campaign in and around Chicago that resulted in hundreds of arrests.
Michael Aaron, an activist with Indivisible Chicago Alliance, said Noem’s appearance at the event misrepresented what the Trump administration stands for in light of its recent immigration enforcement actions.
“People like Kristi Noem like to associate themselves with pleasant cultural events that help people, like this particular event,” he said. “And I think that’s a false association. They’re obviously here to intimidate anyone and everyone that doesn’t agree with everything Trump says.”
Immigration enforcement efforts appear to have slowed in recent weeks, after the DHS closed its command center at Naval Station Great Lakes last month and ramped up its enforcement in Charlotte and later New Orleans.
However, on Friday, federal immigration agents were seen making arrests in suburban Cicero. Social media videos captured agents chasing workers through a Menards parking lot.
On Saturday, agents were back in Elgin not long after Noem finished her speech at Navy Pier.
Noem actually led a raid on an Elgin home on Sept. 16 that became an early example of the aggressive campaign, when federal agents deployed helicopters, bright lights and smoke bombs during the pre-dawn operation.
A court filing later alleged the raid arrested two U.S. citizens, who were later let go, and violated an existing consent decree by making arrests without warrants or probable cause.
The federal judge in the case found that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made 22 illegal arrests and extended the consent decree to February 2026.
At Saturday’s event, Noem was seen helping offload one of the 1,200 trees that were brought to Chicago from Northern Michigan. Last year, the vessel delivered trees for more than 1,000 families.
The tradition honors the Rouse Simmons, the original “Christmas Tree Ship” that delivered trees to Chicago for three decades until 1912, when it sank into Lake Michigan near Ahnapee, Wisconsin, while carrying trees to Chicago.
The three-masted schooner was known for tying a Christmas tree to its main mast and having its deck filled with more trees, according to the nonprofit Chicago’s Christmas Ship Committee that organizes the event.
Contributing: Casey He
