Operation Midway Blitz escalates with Border Patrol return to Chicago

A senior Border Patrol commander who became the face of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown returned to Chicago Tuesday, prompting 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, drawing backlash from immigrant advocates and state leaders who said the Trump administration failed to warn them that the commander or additional agents were being redeployed to the area.

Border agents were captured on video Tuesday in the predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood of Little Village deploying pepper balls and detaining a man, according to The Associated Press.

Bovino’s emergence in Chicago came a month after he was reassigned to enforcement missions in New Orleans and North Carolina.

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Operation Midway Blitz was launched in September in honor of Katie Abraham, who was killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run allegedly caused by Julio Cucul-Bol, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the goal of the operation was to “target criminal illegal aliens terrorizing Americans in sanctuary Illinois.”

“As we said a month ago, we aren’t leaving Chicago, and operations are ongoing,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, according to The Associated Press.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker told reporters Tuesday he was not notified that Bovino and additional Border Patrol agents were returning to Chicago, adding he doesn’t know how long the agents will stay.

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“I’m so proud of the people of Illinois for doing as they have, which is to protect their neighborhoods and their neighbors, to do the right thing,” Pritzker said. “And, so, I think we’re in a much better position.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he was aware that Bovino had returned to Chicago.

“We have learned that federal agents are once again indiscriminately targeting individuals — without warrants — and intentionally showing up in public spaces to intimidate and instill fear, including at a Teamster picket line and a Little Village community organization,” Johnson wrote on X, adding that “these tactics are destabilizing, wrong, and must be condemned.”

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Last week, Pritzker signed a bill aimed at protecting illegal immigrants in the state from deportation by creating new safeguards at several locations, including courthouses, hospitals, college campuses and other public buildings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.