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senior border Patrol Officer Greg Bovino returned chicago Immigration advocates say the region on Tuesday, nearly a month after moving to lead immigration enforcement in other cities.
Bovino’s face trump The administration’s immigration crackdown was photographed Tuesday by the Chicago Sun-Times in Little Village, a predominantly Mexican American neighborhood, where neighbors and activists were whistling and shouting.
Video obtained by The Associated Press shows several unmarked cars and Border Patrol agents deploying pepper balls and detaining a man in a neighborhood business corridor.
Bovino arrived in the Chicago area in September amid Operation Midway Blitz, which resulted in thousands of arrests and instilled fear among immigrant communities. The operation is known for its aggressive tactics, including the use of chemical weapons and car chases. Since the operation began, federal agents have fired tear gas into neighborhood streets, attacked protesters and journalists with pepper balls, and shot at least two people, killing one.
Bovino left Chicago in November to lead immigration campaigns in New Orleans and North Carolina. While immigration crackdowns continued in Chicago, they were largely quiet with less tense confrontations, and Tuesday’s enforcement was the most visible since Bovino left the city.
“As we said a month ago, we are not abandoning Chicago and operations are continuing,” said Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker complained that they were not informed that Bovino and additional Border Patrol agents were returning to the Chicago area on Tuesday. And he said he didn’t know how long they would stay.
Pritzker also called on Bovino to testify before the Illinois commission created in October to document misconduct by federal agents.
“I’m very proud of the people of Illinois because of what they’ve done, protecting their neighborhoods and neighbors, doing the right thing,” Pritzker said Tuesday. “And so, I think we’re in a much better position.”
At Tuesday’s news conference, activists vowed to continue supporting immigrant communities in the Chicago area. On Tuesday, 15 people, including day laborers and a tamale vendor, were detained in the southwestern part of the city and in suburban Berwyn and Cicero, advocates said.
“We are tired but we are not tired,” said Illinois state senator Celina Villanueva. “…Whenever they come, we will be present.”
Victor Rodriguez II, a lifelong resident of Little Village, said he had helped a woman when her husband was detained after “a caravan of masked agents began terrorizing our community,” including using pepper balls on neighborhood streets. Rodriguez accused Bovino of “targeted political theater.”
Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, said that Border Patrol agents interrogated striking workers in the southwest part of Chicago and accused Bovino of “coming to our picket line to chill union activity.”
“We have seen the first demonstration of this political theater that they have brought,” he said. “Now it’s the second act, and we’re ready.”