The Department of Homeland Security plans to deploy 150 of its agents from the Homeland Security Investigations unit of Immigrations and Custom Enforcement to Chicago amid ongoing violence in the city, according to a report from the Chicago Tribune.

The move comes as the Administration is under increased scrutiny for the tactics used by unbadged and unidentified federal agents were deployed to Portland, Oregon.  They have been accused of strong-arm tactics, including snatching pedestrians off the streets and holding them without filing charges.

No elected official in Chicago has asked for the assistance of federal agents to perform street-level enforcement.  City officials are unclear about what agents will be sent, who they will report to, and the chain of command they will follow.

The head of Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 sent a letter to President Trump requesting assistance, but the office holds no authority to make a formal aid request.  In the letter, FOP president John Catanzara referred to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot as “a complete failure.”

“We don’t need federal agents without any insignia taking people off the streets and holding them, I think, unlawfully,” Lightfoot said, remarking that Trump could help Chicago by better funding prosecutors and boosting resources available to federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents.

Homeland Security Investigations typically handle the investigations into large-scale immigration violations, like cross-border smuggling operations or US companies that commit financial or employment fraud.

Chicago has suffered from a long-term epidemic of gun violence.  More than 40% of the guns recovered after crimes in the city had an original point of sale in Indiana, a state with lax gun laws, according to the Indianapolis Star.