Border Patrol agent who led immigration crackdown in Los Angeles arrives
in Chicago
[September 17, 2025]
By CHRISTINE FERNANDO and SOPHIA TAREEN
CHICAGO (AP) — The Border Patrol agent who has broken norms leading an
immigration crackdown in Los Angeles reached Chicago on Tuesday,
potentially signaling a new, more aggressive phase to an enforcement
surge announced last week in the nation’s third-largest city.
“Well, Chicago, we’ve arrived!” Gregory Bovino said in an X post that
included a stylized video of Customs and Border Protection vehicles
driving into the city along with agents walking in slow motion amid
picturesque downtown shots. “Operation At Large is here to continue the
mission we started in Los Angeles.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was also in Chicago, saying
Department of Homeland Security officers made multiple arrests early
Tuesday. She posted videos of armed agents in camouflage military-style
gear leading people in handcuffs from a residence.
“Our work is only beginning,” she said on X.
Trump again floats National Guard troops in Chicago
For weeks, President Donald Trump has promised — with threats of
apocalyptic force — that Chicago would see a surge in immigration
enforcement and National Guard troops over the objections of local
leaders and residents. Immigrant rights activists and Illinois lawmakers
have noted a recent uptick in immigration enforcement agents as Trump
targets Democratic strongholds.
However, Trump has seesawed on sending a military deployment to Chicago.
After saying he'd focus on other cities, Trump said Tuesday that Chicago
would see a deployment soon.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat and frequent Trump critic who has
objected to any federal intervention, dismissed the Republican
president's latest statements about Chicago.
“It's hard to believe anything he says,” Pritzker told reporters.
Scrutiny on immigration arrests
Officials did not answer questions about the focus or size of
immigration enforcement in Chicago. Neither did a spokesman for a
military base outside Chicago that has agreed to provide limited
logistical support to federal agents.
“Teams have spread across Chicago to go after targets,” Bovino told The
Associated Press.
He said Noem observed a 5:30 a.m. raid that resulted in five arrests.
They included one U.S. citizen, Chicago news outlets reported. Joe
Botello, 37 said he was briefly detained after telling agents who showed
up at his Elgin home early Tuesday he was a U.S. citizen and had
identification, according to the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.
Brandon Lee, a spokesman for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and
Refugee Rights, said the arrests weren't about keeping the community
safe.
“Secretary Noem's Elgin photo-op put the cruelty of ICE on full display,
forcibly removing people from their home and disrupting daily life for
citizens and noncitizens alike,” he said.
Increased enforcement in recent days has renewed fears among Chicago’s
immigrant communities, leading to the cancellation and delay of some
celebrations for Mexican Independence Day, which was Tuesday. Tensions
are especially high since an ICE officer fatally shot a man who was
allegedly evading arrest last week.
Pritzker, a possible 2028 presidential contender, criticized Bovino's
tactics, calling them violent and discriminatory. He accused the
administration of sending federal agents to agitate and inflame tensions
as a justification for Trump to deploy the military.
[to top of second column]
|
Protester Sherry yells at federal agents while standing face to face
with them as the agents cleared a path for their vehicles to enter
and exit the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in
Broadview on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago
Tribune via AP)
“They are grabbing people who have brown skin or who speak with an
accent or who speak another language and not people who are guilty
of or are accused of perpetrating a crime,” Pritzker said Tuesday.
In Los Angeles, Bovino’s self-described “turn and burn” operation
led to thousands of arrests. Agents smashed car windows, blew open a
door to a house and patrolled MacArthur Park on horseback. The
operation in California began June 6 without any hints before it was
launched.
On social media, Bovino amped up his Chicago-related content,
pointing out favorable media coverage, snapping back at members of
Pritzker's staff and using a popular musical refrain from Djo’s “End
of Beginning” as background music for his arrival video. The line
“and when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it” is often used on social
media in odes to the city.
Chicago mayor signs measure to protect protesters
Mayor Brandon Johnson said he has had no direct conversations with
federal officials and reaffirmed that Chicago police would not
collaborate with immigration agents. As a largely symbolic measure,
he signed an executive order aimed at protecting the right to
protest.
“In the event that the federal government tramples on the
Constitution, our police department has a responsibility to make
sure we’re protecting our democracy,” he said.
Johnson and Pritzker have vowed to sue over a federal intervention.
Noem said DHS would not back down.
Congresswoman says Chicago immigration arrests in the hundreds
Ahead of Bovino's arrival, DHS offered few details about immigration
enforcement in Chicago, aside from noting roughly two dozen arrests
since ICE began an operation earlier this month. Immigration
activists have said the number is much higher, with more than 15
alone in one suburb on Monday. Officials with ICE did not return
messages Tuesday.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood of Illinois, a Democratic member of the
Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations, said Monday that
ICE has taken 250 people into custody since it began its “Operation
Midway Blitz” on Sept. 6. Underwood said she was briefed after
requesting more information from ICE and that she was told the
program would include the entire state of Illinois and Lake County,
Indiana, which is part of the Chicago metropolitan area.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe in their community. Like all
Illinoisans, I’ve been concerned and alarmed by reporting about
ICE’s conduct and operations in our state under Donald Trump,”
Underwood said in a statement.
___
Associated Press writer Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to
this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
