Operation Midway Blitz escalates with Border Patrol return to Chicago
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A top Border Patrol commander who became the face of the Trump administration’s aggressive crackdown on immigrants returned to Chicago on Tuesday, sparking protests as agents fired pepper balls 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 and is drawing backlash from immigrant advocates and state leaders who say the Trump administration did not warn them that the command or additional agents were being redeployed to the region.
Border agents were caught on video distributing pepper balls and detaining a man in the predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood of Little Village on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.
Bovino’s appearance in Chicago comes a month after he was reassigned to supervisory duties in New Orleans and North Carolina.
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Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino resurfaced in Chicago on December 16. (Scott Olson/Getty Images; John Rudoff/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Operation Midway Blitz was launched in September in honor of Katie Abraham, who was killed in a drunken driving hit-and-run incident allegedly caused by Julio Cucul-Bol, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the purpose of the operation was to “target criminal illegal aliens who are terrorizing Americans in Illinois.”
“As we said a month ago, we are not leaving Chicago and operations continue,” DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, according to the Associated Press.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker told reporters Tuesday that he had not been notified that Bovino and other Border Patrol agents would return to Chicago, adding that he did not know how long the agents would stay.
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Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino walks with his agents after detaining a person in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood on Dec. 16. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
“I am proud of the people of Illinois for doing the right thing by protecting their neighborhoods and neighbors,” Pritzker said. “And I think we’re in a much better position.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he was aware of Bovino’s return to Chicago.
“We have learned that federal agents are once again indiscriminately targeting individuals without a warrant and deliberately appearing in public spaces to intimidate and instill fear, including the Teamster picket line and the Little Village community organization,” Johnson wrote to X. wrote Johnson, adding: “these tactics are destabilizing, wrong and must be condemned.”
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Federal immigration enforcement officers detained a man in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood on December 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 creating new security measures at various locations, including courthouses, hospitals, college campuses and other public buildings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
