Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: U.S. Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino is at the center of President Donald Trump’s deportation show. Our reporters traveled across the country to trace his roots.
🗞️ Plus: The truth about corporate head tax complaints, the record number of 311 calls over uncleared sidewalks and roads, and more news you need to know.
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⏱️: A 9-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌨️
Partly cloudy with a high near 29. Wind chill temperatures are expected to stay below zero from Friday night to Sunday.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, who has led his agents this year from Los Angeles to Chicago to Charlotte, N.C., to New Orleans, has engaged in aggressive deportation operations involving the use of tear gas and other uses of force. In the late 1980s in North Carolina, he was a polite high school wrestler who won the team’s most-improved award.
Illustration by Bryan Barker / Sun-Times; photos by Sun-Times photgraphers Ashlee Rezin, Candace Dane Chambers and Anthony Vazquez and Watauga High School
Gregory Bovino is the star of Trump’s deportation show — we traced his roots
By Dan Mihalopoulos and Lauren FitzPatrick
Face of the ‘blitz’: Before he strutted through Chicago as the lone unmasked face of the anti-immigrant “blitz” ordered by the Trump administration, Gregory Bovino was the U.S. Border Patrol’s low-profile chief responsible for a dusty, rocky, remote 70-mile stretch dividing California and Mexico. Now Bovino, roaming far from his territory, calls himself the Border Patrol’s “commander at large,” preens for TV cameras and seems content to incite people on the streets.
Who is he?: As a boy, the Hollywood movie “The Border” set the course for his life. He couldn’t believe the Border Patrol agents in the movie were the bad guys. Now that he’s in charge of deportation efforts, causing turmoil in Chicago and elsewhere, he sees himself as the good guy. Not everyone agrees.
Our investigation: To get a better sense of how Bovino came into the high-profile role he now occupies, Sun-Times and WBEZ reporters combed through his testimony before Congress, other public statements and interviews, and court filings. They also traveled to rural North Carolina, where they met hometown friends and foes, and the Imperial Valley in Southern California, where Bovino auditioned for his current starring role.
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RELATED COVERAGE ✶
Federal appeals court blocks release of hundreds, but Trump still loses in mixed immigration ruling
By Jon Seidel
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the first to reject the Trump administration’s novel reading of immigration law, which it has used to hold people in mandatory detention.
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In DC hearings, Rep. Ramirez calls Noem a liar and Sen. Duckworth questions Trump troop deployments
By Tina Sfondeles
U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez also penned a letter Wednesday asking House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan to conduct an investigation into Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s “unlawful and potentially impeachable actions.”
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As move-out date arrives at Chicago building raided by feds, one resident looks back — and ahead
By Esther Yoon-Ji Kang
For Darren Hightower, the South Shore building holds difficult memories but also reminds him of how he advocated for himself and his neighbors. Now, he just needs to find a new place to live.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Jones strikes deal: Illinois Sen. Emil Jones III walked out of a federal courtroom expressing gratitude for an “early Christmas gift” Thursday after striking a deal with prosecutors that could save him from a conviction three years after being hit with bribery charges.
- ‘Where is justice for Krystal?’: Her voice trembling, the mother of Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera asked the question Thursday as she announced a wrongful death lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department and Officer Carlos Baker, who fatally shot her daughter shortly after their romantic relationship ended.
- Indiana redistricting rejected: Indiana lawmakers on Thursday rejected an overhaul of the state’s congressional map that would’ve increased the odds of sending more Republicans to Washington, taking pressure off Illinois Democrats to jump into a national redistricting tit-for-tat started by President Donald Trump.
- Lurie expands: Lurie Children’s Hospital added four beds and 20 new staff members to the hospital’s renovated inpatient psychiatric unit as a part of a statewide effort to address a major shortage of mental health care for Illinois kids in crisis.
- Office rework: A pair of Chicago developers recently got the OK to convert a long-vacant River North office building into apartments, the latest of several such projects in the neighborhood.
- Marshall scholars: Two students from the University of Chicago and one from Northwestern University are among the 2026 Marshall scholars. They’ll receive fully funded graduate-level education in the United Kingdom.
- 3 stars for ‘The Long Christmas Dinner’: Though the pacing at times lingers on death and grief a bit more than life and love, this production finds beauty in slowness and sadness, writes Steven Oxman in a review for the Sun-Times.
CITY HALL 🏛️
Chicago’s head tax was long called a job killer, but is there evidence to back that up?
By Mariah Woelfel and Amy Qin
Head tax history: For as long as it’s been alive, Chicago’s employer head tax has been derided — in one colorful way or another — as a job killer. Fifty-two years after its inception, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s attempt to revive a version of it — at $33 a month for employees at companies with 500 or more workers — faces staunch opposition from a group of City Council members sensitive to the concerns of Chicago’s business community.
What we found: The actual effect of the head tax on employment is unclear. A WBEZ analysis of city tax data and publicly available economic data, reviewed by four economic and labor experts, found a lack of evidence that Chicago’s previous head tax, or its repeal, is to blame for job loss or growth.
CHICAGO STORIES ✶
Chicago starts snow season with record number of 311 calls over uncleared sidewalks and roads
By Alden Loury and Mary Norkol
Winter woes: The prelude to winter has pummeled Chicago with more snow this early than the city has seen in nearly 50 years, and people are slipping and sliding their way through uncleared sidewalks and streets. And they’re complaining about it.
Uptick in calls: With record snowfall comes record numbers of calls to 311, the city’s number to field non-emergency service requests. The city has seen more service calls to start this year’s snow season than the same time period in any year since at least 2019, a WBEZ/Sun-Times analysis of 311 data found.
Key context: In past years, even the historically snowier parts of winter have not prompted this many 311 calls. In no other 10-day stretch going to 2019 has the city gotten so many complaints about uncleared sidewalks.
Column: When everyone is responsible for snow removal, nobody is, writes Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg.
WEEKEND PLANS 🎉
❤️ Kwanzaa Our Way
9 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday
📍Grand Ballroom, 6351 South Cottage Grove Ave.
A full day of performances, line dancing, fashion, music and community.
Admission: $10 for each event
🛍️ Navi•Arts en el Barrio
11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
📍National Puerto Rican Museum, 3015 W. Division St.
Hands-on workshops, delicious food, live music and a market showcasing Boricua artisans and vendors.
Admission: Free
🎉 Martyrs’ Krampus Fest
Noon to close Saturday
📍Martyrs’, 3855 N. Lincoln Ave.
A holiday artisan market open noon-6 p.m., a Krampus Cafe serving German-style street food and mulled wine, a Krampus parade along Lincoln Avenue at 6:30 p.m., and an on-stage Krampus pageant and costume contest with live music at 7:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
🩰 ‘Mary, A Holiday Dansical’
6-8 p.m. Sunday
📍Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St.
Performed by members of Black Girls Dance, this modern twist on the traditional “Black Nativity” is told through ballet, hip-hop, tap and contemporary dance.
Admission: $25+
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue:
5A: “LaSalle is next. ___ open on the left at LaSalle.”
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏈🏒🏀
- Bears vs. Browns: The Sun-Times’ reporters share their predictions for Sunday’s game.
- Vocal coach: The Blackhawks’ defensemen have their own blind spot- detection system — goalie Spencer Knight’s voice.
- Bulls’ roster: Time is of the essence as trade rumors grow around the Bulls’ Coby White, writes Joe Cowley.
- Boys basketball: We’ve got Thursday’s high school boys basketball scores, including Kenwood’s win over Hyde Park.
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Lillstreet Art Center marks 50 years of enabling the love of craft
By Stefano Esposito
Strolling along the corridors of the former gear factory at Montrose and Ravenswood, you’ll find a lanky, soft-spoken man in his late 70s, wearing black jeans and a gray vest.
“Ask that woman what her name is, will you?” he said on more than one occasion during a recent visit.
It should not be a surprise that Bruce Robbins can’t remember everyone who comes to Lillstreet Art Center, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Each year, about 10,000 students take classes here — everything from pottery and jewelry making to painting and textiles.
Robbins, a Columbia University dropout who grew up in Glencoe, started the arts center with his partner, Martin Cohen, with the vague idea of selling materials for ceramic artists while also offering a handful of ceramics classes.
What started in an 8,000-square-foot former horse stable at 1021 W. Lill St. with six classrooms has expanded to a 40,000-square-foot space with 27 classrooms.
“I love it when people come up to me and say, ‘I was a student here and now my kid is a student here, too,'” Robbins said.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Yesterday, we asked you: Are you going to Sunday’s Browns-Bears game? What are your tips for staying warm at Soldier Field?
Here’s some of what you said…
“My brother always brought a piece of cardboard to stand on. Keeps the cold from coming up your feet and legs.” — Deb Lindley
“If you’re tailgating, make sure you bring a cooler for your drinks to keep them from freezing. Leave them out on a table and they will for sure freeze. Found that out the hard way.” — Jon Dillabaugh
“Lotta snot rags ’cause that nose be runnin’.” — Jim Erimie
“Cardboard under your feet; hand and feet warmers; something to cover your face, like a scarf; and a shot of whiskey!” — Jermaine Pigee
“Hothands in shoes and back pockets and layers of clothes — and backup Hothands.” — Rosemary Maldonado-Nelson
“Wear snow boots or insulation boots. I was in Green Bay last Sunday and my feet were frozen.” — Art Medina
Thanks for reading the Sun-Times Morning Edition!
Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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