Border Patrol boss clashes with suburban mayor amid renewed Chicago area immigration blitz

After federal immigration agents arrested a man at an Evanston gas station Wednesday morning, U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino told the city’s mayor that his team was addressing “violence committed by those that shouldn’t be here in your community.”

Mayor Daniel Biss, a Democrat running in a competitive U.S. House race, shot back, saying he was “unaware of that happening.”

“Well, that’s probably the problem. Maybe you should get aware,” Bovino responded as protesters blew whistles and jeered at the Mobil station at 1950 Green Bay Road.

Biss later complained that Bovino had dodged questions about his mission and authority, describing the Border Patrol boss as a “condescending, sarcastic liar.”

“It’s all a show, right?” Biss said in an interview. “He’s saying for the TV cameras, for right wing podcasters, for national media that he’s trying to keep us safe. And what he’s really doing is trying to create a spectacle while terrorizing our neighbors and abducting people.”

When Bovino spoke directly to reporters after the arrest, he couldn’t provide a justification and claimed his agents were “still running checks.”

Bovino and his “green machine” of Border Patrol agents made a surprise return to the Chicago area on Tuesday, picking up where they left off after blowing town last month under a cloud of controversy.

At least nine other people were arrested Wednesday as Bovino’s team traversed the city and suburbs nearly all day, with journalists and activists following close behind.

Two men were taken into custody after agents smashed out the window of a pickup truck outside of a Home Depot in Evanston. Another man was detained in the parking lot of a shopping center in Mount Prospect. And 16 people were arrested in the rideshare lot at O’Hare International Airport, Bovino posted on X, including an Indian man who cried, demanded to speak to his lawyer and said he has a history of heart attacks.

During a pit stop at a gas station in the northwest suburbs, Bovino said Border Patrol could be in Chicago for a long time: “We might well be in town here. We’ve got a lot of work do do here in Chicago, a lot of illegal aliens to arrest.”

In Mount Prospect, four agents jumped out of a car at a Costco store at Randhurst Mall and approached a man who was wheeling a cart with a box of avocados in it. The man told the Border Patrol agents he was Chinese and produced his green card. One agent told another that the man had received asylum. The man said he did not know English, and when the agents departed, he made a call on his cell and spoke animatedly in Chinese.

Agents yelled out the window of a van at a woman walking from her car to the Costco. The woman, of southeast Asian descent, said in a flawless Midwestern accent, “They just asked me if I’m American. What the f—?”

Near dusk, Bovino strode around the rideshare waiting lot at O’Hare airport, clasping his belt with both hands as agents detained immigrant drivers who could not produce proof of U.S. citizenship. Bovino posed for a selfie with a woman while Border Patrol agents under his command lectured detainees who were loaded into the back seat of unmarked vehicles.

Bovino declined to answer any questions about himself, saying he was too busy working. “I’m going to continue with this fantastic mission here so that we can protect Americans.”

The Indian driver detained at the rideshare lot said his name was Bibim Thakar. As his arms were cuffed behind his back, he said in a heavy accent, “Why arrest me?”

Thakar said he was from India, his wife was still there and, asked if he committed a crime during more than 11 years in the U.S., he replied, “No, no, never sir. Oh my God.”

He asked an agent, “Can I talk to my lawyer, sir, please?”

That request was ignored. When a reporter asked Thakar if he had legal residency in the U.S., he attempted to say something about his daughter but an agent interrupted, saying, “He does not have status.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Bovino credited local police departments for protecting his agents.

“I would like to thank both Chicago and Evanston Police Departments who provided assistance in preventing violent mobs from assaulting our law enforcement officers as we were conducting Title 8 immigration duties in the area,” Bovino said on X. “Both departments cleared the way for us to continue.”

Evanston police pushed back on Bovino’s comment, saying in a statement that Evanston officers did not coordinate with federal agents. The department said it did respond to incidents involving Border Patrol and remains focused on “restoring order and documenting these incidents as they occur.”

In a statement, a Chicago police spokesperson said a federal agent in a caravan had reported that “another vehicle was attempting to ram them” Wednesday morning in the 5700 block of North Sheridan Road. The agent later “related to officers that they did not wish to pursue enforcement action and continued on their way.”

The other driver was then allowed to leave, according to the spokesperson, who said officers “did not assist federal authorities with any immigration enforcement.”

“An internal review to ensure responding officers were in compliance with department policy continues,” the spokesperson said.

On Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and other Democrats slammed Bovino’s decision to come back to the city, just days before the Christmas holiday. Federal immigration agents detained at least 15 people throughout the day, including day laborers and a tamale vendor, according to community activists.

Bovino has become the face of President Donald Trump’s nationwide deportation efforts and was at the center of much of the chaos that transpired during the early phases of Operation Midway Blitz, which was launched in September and has been marked by car chases, shootings, gas deployments and other heavy-handed tactics.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued a historic ruling, which restricted the use of force and ordered Bovino to appear before her for daily check-ins. An appellate court later put those restrictions on hold and called off any daily meetings.

About 3,000 people were arrested in northern Illinois by either Border Patrol or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement between June 11 and Oct. 22, the Justice Department has acknowledged in court.

It’s unknown how long Bovino and his team will stay here.

At the gas station in Evanston, Bovino told reporters that “several hundred” agents stuck around when he and his team left the Chicago area last month for short stints in Charlotte, North Carolina, and New Orleans. “We never left,” Bovino said.

The Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ reported last month that Bovino could return in March with 1,000 agents, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security source.

Pritzker’s office on Wednesday said officials had been told that the Illinois National Guard’s deployment would be extended until April 15. But they not yet received official orders with that date, a spokesperson said.

Contributing: Tina Sfondeles, Mitchell Armentrout