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The top Border Patrol commander who became the face of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration raids returned to Chicago on Tuesday, sparking protests as agents fired pepper spray and detained several people.
Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino’s appearance in Chicago marks the most visible escalation in Operation Midway Blitz since early fall, prompting immigration advocates and state leaders to say the Trump administration failed to warn them that the commander or additional agents were being redeployed to the area.
Border agents were captured on video Tuesday in the mostly Mexican-American neighborhood of Little Village delivering pepper balls and detaining a man, according to the Associated Press.
Bovino’s appearance in Chicago comes a month after he was reassigned to law enforcement in New Orleans and North Carolina.
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Border Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino, right, reappears in Chicago Dec. 16. (Photos by Scott Olson/Getty; John Rudoff/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Operation Midway Blitz was launched in September to honor Katie Abraham, who was killed in a drunken driving accident allegedly by Julio Cucul-Bol, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the purpose of the program is to “target criminals who are harassing Americans in the sanctuary state of Illinois.”
“As we said last month, we are not leaving Chicago, and the operation continues,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, according to the Associated Press.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker told reporters Tuesday that he had not been notified that Bovino and additional Border Patrol agents were returning to Chicago, adding that he did not know how long the agents would stay.
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Border Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino walks with his agents after arresting a man in the Little Village area of Chicago Dec. 16. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
“I’m proud of the people of Illinois for doing what they did, which is to protect their neighborhoods and their neighbors, to do the right thing,” Pritzker said. “And, so, I think we’re in a much better position.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he knows Bovino is back in Chicago.
“We’ve learned that federal agents are also targeting people indiscriminately — without warrants — and deliberately appearing in public places to intimidate and instill fear, including the Teamster picket line and the Little Village community,” Johnson wrote in X, adding that “these tactics are disturbing, wrong, and must be condemned.”
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Federal immigration enforcement agents arrested a man in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago Dec. 16. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Last week, Pritzker signed a bill aimed at protecting illegal immigrants in the state from deportation by building new protections in many places, including courthouses, hospitals, colleges and other public buildings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
