CHICAGO (NewsNation) — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson accused Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino of lying about assistance that Bovino said was provided to federal immigration agents by Chicago and suburban police officers Wednesday.
Johnson told reporters Thursday that Chicago cops did not violate the city’s Welcoming City ordinance or the Illinois Trust Act, both of which prohibit officers from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts.
Bovino returned to Chicago this week, along with 200 federal agents, to conduct ongoing immigration enforcement operations. Bovino wrote on social media Wednesday that he wanted to thank both the Chicago and Evanston police departments for “preventing violent mobs” from assaulting federal immigration officers.
“Both departments cleared the way for us to continue our enforcement efforts unimpeded,” Bovino wrote.
Asked about Bovino’s claims Thursday, Johnson denied that Chicago police officers violated the city ordinance and the state’s Trust Act.
“Anyone, who at this point would believe anything that Greg Bovino would say wants to be duped,” Johnson said. “He has been proven over and over again that he is a dishonest human being … Greg Bovino is a very disturbed individual and has never spoken the truth … He’s a liar … and this is not the first time he is lying.”
Bovino did not return multiple messages from NewsNation on Thursday seeking comment. Bovino told reporters Wednesday that this week may mark the first time local law enforcement officers have assisted Border Patrol agents.
In one media interview, Bovino said that perhaps local police had learned from local law enforcement agencies in Louisiana, where federal agents have been conducting another enforcement operation. Local departments outside of New Orleans have been cooperating with federal agents.
Johnson said Thursday that Chicago Police officers work “within the confines” of Chicago’s Welcoming City ordinance, which remains the expectation of all officers. In a statement issued Wednesday, a Chicago Police Department spokesperson said that the department was called by federal agents who claimed a driver was “attempting to ram them.”
The Chicago Tribune reported that city officers cut off a driver who was narrating on video as he followed a convoy of federal vehicles. Police officers prevented the driver, identified in the report as Omar Luna, from pursuing federal agents further. Luna, a U.S. citizen born in Mexico, told the newspaper that at least three Chicago police vehicles pulled ahead of his vehicle, preventing him from driving.
Luna denied that he was attempting to harm officers, but instead following federal agents to “alert people,” he told the Tribune.
Bovino’s agents were also active in suburban Evanston on Wednesday, where Mayor Daniel Biss encountered Bovino near a local gas station. Bovino wrote on social media that Biss asked him why federal agents were in Evanston, to which Bovino replied, to make the community safer by conducting federal immigration enforcement.
“Although he fell back into the divisive talking points that we’ve heard ad nauseam from politicians in Chicago, I hope it was enlightening to him,” Bovino wrote.
Biss did not return messages from NewsNation, but told the Chicago Sun-Times that Bovino’s claims about making Evanston safer were not true. Biss, a Democrat running for a seat in Congress, called Bovino a “condescending, sarcastic liar.”
“It’s all a show, right?” Biss told the newspaper. “He’s saying (what he did) 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.”
It is unknown how long Bovino will remain in Chicago after he left with many hundreds of federal agents last month. However, he repeatedly said Wednesday that Border Patrol “never left,” repeating a statement issued to NewsNation by the Department of Homeland Security this week.
In a joint statement provided to NewsNation from the City of Evanston and the city’s police department regarding Bovino’s claims of local police support, a police official said that officers responded to several incidents involving federal agents and local residents.
However, as in Chicago, officials said that police officers did not cross a line in assisting with immigration enforcement.
“The Evanston Police Department does not, and will not, coordinate with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” the statement said.
“This approach reflects established policy and practice and will continue to guide the Evanston Police Department’s response to CBP/ICE operations. The department’s focus remains on restoring order and documenting these incidents as they occur.”