{"id":379262,"date":"2025-11-14T21:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T21:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/379262\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T21:57:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T21:57:11","slug":"border-patrol-boss-greg-bovino-left-chicago-thursday-reports-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/379262\/","title":{"rendered":"Border Patrol Boss Greg Bovino\u00a0Left Chicago Thursday, Reports Say"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is part of our series of daily recaps of ICE activity in the Chicago region. Have a tip we should check out? Email\u00a0newsroom@blockclubchi.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CHICAGO \u2014 Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino is no longer in Chicago, according to reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bovino, a controversial leader of the Trump administration\u2019s immigration enforcement surge in Chicago, left the city Thursday for Charlotte, North Carolina, CBS News reported<\/a> Friday, citing unnamed sources.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Appearing on Fox News midday Thursday<\/a>, Bovino said he was in West Virginia, training with hundreds of Border Patrol agents in preparation for a possible return to Chicago and other cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to see us redeploy \u2014 it could be New York, it could be Chicago, it could be in Charlotte \u2014 but one thing that\u2019s gonna happen is, Gov. Pritzker is gonna see a lot more immigration enforcement. \u2026 You can guarantee it,\u201d Bovino said.<\/p>\n

Questions Block Club sent Friday to Department of Homeland Security officials about the decision to relocate Bovino \u2014 including who would replace him, if social media influencers embedded with his team would be traveling with him and whether lawsuits filed in federal court over federal immigration agents\u2019 use of force impacted the decision \u2014 went unanswered.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country. We do not discuss future or potential operations,\u201d Tricia McLaughlin, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs, said in an email.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin denied in a social media post Tuesday<\/a> that Bovino was leaving Chicago in response to reports earlier this week about the Border Patrol chief\u2019s possible exit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But officials from Mecklenburg County in North Carolina confirmed they\u2019ve been informed that Border Patrol personnel are arriving in the Charlotte area, according to a news release.<\/p>\n

Citing a Homeland Security official,\u00a0the Sun-Times previously reported<\/a>\u00a01,000 federal agents could return to Chicago in March.\u00a0About 200 Border Patrol agents<\/a> had been conducting operations in the Chicago area recently, a top federal immigration enforcement official previously said.<\/p>\n

Bovino announced the launch of Operation At Large<\/a>\u00a0in September, a week after the start of\u00a0Operation Midway Blitz<\/a>, a separate immigration enforcement effort led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Both are presumably focused on arresting undocumented immigrants with serious criminal histories.<\/p>\n

But in the months since, federal agents have\u00a0shot at least two people<\/a>,\u00a0killing one<\/a>; repeatedly\u00a0tear-gassed protesters<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0first responders<\/a>;\u00a0shot rubber bullets<\/a>\u00a0at protesters;\u00a0detained U.S. citizens<\/a>,\u00a0including children<\/a>;\u00a0handcuffed a Chicago alderperson in a hospital<\/a>;\u00a0smoke bombed and tear-gassed a Chicago street<\/a>;\u00a0fired a chemical weapon at a TV reporter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0detained a journalist<\/a>, among other incidents.<\/p>\n

Bovino has been a visible figure since arriving in Chicago, posing for\u00a0photo ops aboard a boat<\/a>\u00a0on the Chicago River and Downtown \u2014 most recently at the Bean in Millennium Park early Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bovino has also been an\u00a0active participant<\/a>\u00a0in immigration raids across the city, seen on video tear-gassing crowds of residents in Little Village, among other incidents, and he is at the center of a\u00a0federal lawsuit challenging agents\u2019 use of force<\/a>\u00a0throughout the immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n

Last week, federal Judge Sara L. Ellis\u00a0blasted Bovino, saying he admitted in a deposition that he lied<\/a>\u00a0when claiming he was hit by a rock before tear-gassing people in Little Village.<\/p>\n

At the same hearing, Ellis extended restrictions she put on federal immigration agents\u2019 use of force and crowd control tactics. This week, the Trump administration filed an emergency appeal to the block the order, calling it \u201cunworkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

And U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings plans to release on bond hundreds of people who have been detained<\/a> by federal immigration agents in Chicago since June, which Bovino criticized during his appearance on Fox News Thursday<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether they were criminals or individuals that were taking jobs from Americans \u2014 you name it, that\u2019s what they were doing. And I\u2019ll tell you what\u2019s gonna happen,\u201d Bovino said. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna go even harder on the streets. If he releases those 650, we\u2019re gonna apprehend 1,650 on the streets of Chicago.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

21 People Arrested Outside Broadview ICE Facility<\/p>\n

A total of 21 people were arrested outside the ICE processing facility in suburban Broadview Friday \u201cin connection with protests in Broadview around the facility being used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,\u201d according to a release from the Cook County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

The arrests happened around 10 a.m. Friday, and additional information on who was taken into custody was not immediately available, according to the release.<\/p>\n

Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson criticized \u201cout-of-town protesters\u201d for causing injury to two of her suburb\u2019s police officers as well as officers for the Cook County Sheriff\u2019s Office and Illinois State Police, in a Friday statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have repeatedly pleaded to protesters to raise their voices, not their fists. They have chosen their fists,\u201d Thompson said in her statement accusing demonstrators of violence.<\/p>\n

The two Broadview officers and the Cook County police officers were taken to Loyola Hospital for treatment, Thompson said in the statement.<\/p>\n

In early October, local and state police set up designated protest zones with barricades to keep protesters away from the ICE facility. The Cook County Sheriff\u2019s Office also began sending out news releases about people arrested near the facility.<\/p>\n

The 9 a.m. demonstration<\/a> at the ICE facility started peacefully with people chanting and singing, the\u00a0Sun-Times<\/a> reported. Federal agents were not on the scene, and no tear gas, pepper balls or chemical agents were deployed, according to the Sun-Times.<\/p>\n

Around 10 a.m. a group of protesters exited the designated protest zones and tried to walk toward the ICE facility, prompting state police to push protesters back, according to\u00a0WGN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over the past several months, similar scenes have played out frequently in Broadview,\u00a0which has become a flashpoint<\/a>\u00a0in Chicago\u2019s resistance to President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration enforcement crackdown.<\/p>\n

Other Headlines<\/p>\n

Federal Judge Sets March Trial Over Use Of Force In Immigration Crackdown<\/a><\/strong>: A trial over First Amendment rights, brought by Block Club and other media groups, should happen before \u201canother ramp-up of the operation in the spring,\u201d U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said.<\/p>\n

FROM SUN-TIMES & WBEZ:\u00a0<\/strong>Tear Gas, Car Crashes, Rubber Bullets: Risky Tactics Have Driven Trump\u2019s Chicago Deportation \u2018Blitz\u2019<\/a><\/strong>: Law enforcement experts say federal agents have displayed a lack of training and restraint. \u201cThey\u2019re out of control,\u201d ex-police Supt. Garry McCarthy says.<\/p>\n

FROM SUN-TIMES:\u00a0<\/strong>U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino And Many Of His Agents Favor Trump, GOP In Their Campaign Giving<\/a><\/strong>: As Bovino has led the immigration enforcement operation in the Chicago region since September, he\u2019s been portrayed as a political tool of the White House. He\u2019s previously insisted he\u2019s \u201capolitical\u201d in his work, but he and his household have donated campaign money to Trump and his Republican allies.<\/p>\n

FROM TRIBUNE:\u00a0<\/strong>West Chicago Brothers Are On The Front Lines Against \u2018Operation Midway Blitz\u2019 \u2014 And They\u2019re Only Teenagers<\/a><\/strong>: The wave of youth activists who have been galvanized into action by \u201cOperation Midway Blitz\u201d follow a long tradition paved around the world by young activists.<\/p>\n

FROM TRIBUNE:\u00a0<\/strong>Illinois Democratic Senate Hopefuls Target President Donald Trump\u2019s Immigration Policies At Labor Forum<\/a><\/strong>: At Illinois AFL-CIO and Chicago Federation of Labor forum, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly each blamed Trump for voter concerns over affordability.<\/p>\n

FROM TRIBUNE:\u00a0<\/strong>Attorneys Visit \u2018Black Box\u2019 ICE Processing Center In Broadview<\/a><\/strong>: The rare site visit was ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura McNally in the wake of a class-action lawsuit alleging dirty, unsafe conditions.<\/p>\n

FROM TRIBUNE:\u00a0<\/strong>Immigration Agents Make Arrest Outside Leighton Courthouse, Leaving Behind Broken Fence<\/a><\/strong>: It was not clear whether the agents had secured a warrant for the man\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n

FROM WGN:\u00a0Costs Mount As National Guard Soldiers Sit On Standby<\/a><\/strong>: SkyCam9 shows you what they\u2019re doing, as costs of their legally questionable deployment pile-up.<\/p>\n

FROM WBEZ:\u00a0City Leaders Push Back After DHS Takes Credit For Chicago\u2019s Crime Drop<\/a><\/strong>: The Department of Homeland Security claims their agents\u2019 actions led to a \u201chistoric drop\u201d in crime, but a WBEZ analysis contradicts that claim.<\/p>\n

Know Your Rights<\/p>\n

Follow For Updates<\/p>\n

You can follow these organizations for updates about immigration enforcement activity.<\/p>\n

Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is part of our series of daily recaps of ICE activity in the Chicago region. Have a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":379263,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5386,1818,121074],"class_list":{"0":"post-379262","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-illinois","11":"tag-operation-midway-blitz"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115550293117873096","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}