CHICAGO (NewsNation) — The nation’s third-largest city became a popular backdrop for Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement operations in 2025, but the face of those military-style missions says that won’t be changing anytime soon.
Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander who oversaw a two-month enforcement operation in Chicago this fall, posted on social media Tuesday that any questions about federal agents being done with Chicago are inaccurate.
“If you think we’re done with Chicago, you’d better check yourself before you wreck yourself,” Bovino wrote on X. “Don’t call it a comeback; we’re gonna be here for years.”
Federal agents have made nearly 4,500 arrests of migrants in Chicago this year, according to the Department of Homeland Security. After Bovino and hundreds of Border Patrol agents left Chicago in early November for North Carolina, he pledged that the DHS operation was not over.
After short stays in North Carolina and New Orleans, Bovino and federal agents returned to Chicago just before Christmas, staying just more than 48 hours. A NewsNation source chalked up the visit as being “for show” after the Louisiana operation yielded a few hundred arrests but did not create the media buzz as did the effort in Chicago.
With each visit, Bovino drew the ire of local elected officials, including Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, and, most recently, Daniel Biss, the mayor of suburban Evanston and a Democratic candidate for Congress. Bovino previously oversaw federal immigration efforts in Los Angeles over the summer before turning his attention to Chicago.
Bovino’s social media post included a highlight reel of DHS activity in Chicago that included music by LL Cool J. The video montage includes recent operations in Chicago and in Evanston, where the Border Patrol commander and Biss, the mayor, met face-to-face. Biss told the Chicago Sun-Times that the abbreviated visit back to Chicago was all for show.
“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,” Biss told the newspaper. “And what he’s really doing is trying to create a spectacle while terrorizing our neighbors and abducting people.”
Bovino praised the Chicago and Evanston police departments for their assistance when federal agents returned in December. Johnson, the Chicago mayor, accused Bovino of lying about receiving assistance from local cops, which is a violation of the Illinois Trust Act.
Bovino, who was chastised by Judge Sara Ellis over his use of force after he and other DHS officials were sued in federal court, has maintained that his agents operate in a “legal, ethical and moral” way. He told reporters earlier this month that his agents would continue to do that, adding that federal agents from CBP “never left” Chicago despite the majority of them pulling out to go to Chicago.
Despite his claims, local elected officials have routinely criticized Bovino.
“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 immediately respond to a message sent by NewsNation on Tuesday.