Camouflage-clad federal agents stormed Chicago’s downtown on Sunday, parading through some of the city’s wealthiest enclaves in a bizarre display of political theater.
Livestreams caught Border Patrol officers outside Tribune Tower and Millennium Park, detaining people as Customs and Border Protection boats prowled the Chicago River.
But the show really turned heads when the agents, decked out in camo with “Border Patrol” patches, marched into the Gold Coast, a neighborhood better known for luxury boutiques than immigration crackdowns.
Bystanders quickly formed a tailing crowd, chanting “ICE, go home!” and “shame” as agents lined Clark Street. A whistle pierced the air. Vans whisked some of the officers away, but others lingered as the chants continued.
“This was a show. They wanted to get attention, and they got it,” Enrique Espinoza, a Chicago attorney and member of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, who is also a Mexican immigrant, said.
Gov. JB Pritzker torched the stunt on X: “This is not making anybody safer—it’s a show of intimidation, instilling fear in our communities and hurting our businesses. We cannot normalize militarizing American cities and suburbs.”
Gregory Bovino, the chief U.S. Border Patrol agent, joined the patrol. He was asked by the Chicago Tribune how many agents had been patrolling downtown on Sunday. Bovino said, “A lot.”
“The people, united, will never be defeated!” protesters chanted as he and Border Patrol agents rolled out.
Bovino had teamed up with ICE agents and DHS goons on Saturday, too, to quell a protest at the ICE processing facility in Broadview, Illinois.
The ensuing downtown walkabout comes amid what ICE is calling “Operation Midway Blitz,” a federal immigration enforcement effort that focuses on Illinois, launched by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) earlier this month.
“This operation will target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in Chicago,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a press release at the time.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the program has “sown fear throughout immigrant communities in Chicago and its suburbs.”
Trump has already deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles in response to immigration protests and D.C. as part of his so-called crime crackdown in the nation’s capital.
He said Saturday that he will send troops to Portland, Oregon, “authorizing Full Force, if necessary” to handle “domestic terrorists.” A smaller deployment in Memphis, Tennessee, is also expected soon.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Beast that the show of force resulted in the arrest of “illegal aliens.”
“On September 28th, CBP carried out an operation in downtown Chicago arresting 8 illegal aliens who broke our nation’s immigration laws,” she said.
“Illegal aliens can take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $1,000 and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right, legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”
