The Department of Homeland Security said the secretary was celebrating the impact of the raid. Locals condemned the photo shoot.
Illinois representative stopped by Border Patrol in Chicago
On Tuesday, October 21, Illinois Congressman Juan Huynh and a member of his staff were driving in Chicago when a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent stopped him.
CHICAGO – The chief enforcer of President Donald Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz crackdown on immigration crackdowns posed for a photo in front of the city’s iconic The Bean sculpture in the early hours of November, sparking outrage from city and state leaders.
Mayor Johnson called the photo shoot “evil and despicable.” Johnson has publicly complained about the use of force by federal agents during the Midway raids and called on the United Nations to investigate federal immigration raids in which police sprayed chemical agents on residential neighborhoods and detained childcare workers in front of stunned families.
Border patrol commander. Gregory Bovino’s move to pose in front of the Chicago landmark, officially named Cloud Gate, comes nearly two months after the White House blitzkrieg. President Trump said the crackdown is needed to catch the “worst of the worst” criminal immigrants. Local Democratic leaders claim the Republican president is plotting to seize power.
General Bovino of U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the central figure in Operation Trump. The short chief with a Carolina accent is frequently seen on the ground during immigration raids. The actions of the commissioner and his staff, including the use of chemicals in residential areas, have spurred federal lawsuits. On November 6, a judge said Bovino “admittedly lied” about why he used tear gas on the crowd.
Bovino responded to reports of the stunt in X: “I’m proud to report that there were no illegal aliens in the park this morning. You should have been there, haha.”
The photo, taken by photojournalist Colin Boyle of local media outlet Block Club Chicago, shows Bovino and dozens of agents posing in front of a sculpture in the city’s Millennium Park.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said in response to a request for comment on the photo shoot that the secretary “joins Chicagoans in celebrating the decline in several types of crime since the Midway Blitz, including murders, shootings, robberies, and carjackings.” “Thanks to DHS law enforcement, Chicago has the lowest number of summer homicides since 1965.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office noted in a statement that the blitz began on September 8 after local media reported on September 3 that June, July, and August in the city were the safest summers in 60 years.
“As we have said for months, we are pleased to hear that the Trump administration acknowledges that crime is significantly down in Chicago,” Johnson’s office said in a statement. “But they have nothing to do with the job.”
Violent crime has decreased over the past 28 days compared to last year, according to Chicago Police Department data. Local leaders, including Mr Johnson, have previously said crime was down before the blitz.
Homeland Security officials did not respond to questions about what the photos would be used for.
Mayor and governor respond to ‘ugly act’
Mayor Johnson and other local leaders denounced Bovino and federal officials’ propaganda efforts.
“This is an ugly act,” Johnson said at a press conference on Nov. 10. “It’s unfortunate that this is the kind of provocation that the president of the United States supported. We have no place in the city of Chicago. We believe that all of our neighbors deserve to be protected, loved and supported.”
The agents yelled “Little Village” as they posed, Block Club reported. Little Village is Chicago’s most famous Mexican neighborhood. Bovino and his agents raided South Side communities several times. Local Aldo. Mike Rodriguez previously told USA TODAY that the operatives had brought a “reign of terror” into the neighborhood.
Gov. JB Pritzker accused federal officials of shouting out the name of the historic Mexican District.
“It’s disgusting to make fun of our neighborhoods and communities,” Pritzker said on social media. “Greg Bovino and his undercover agents aren’t here to make Chicago safer. They’re posing for photos and staging a reality TV moment while children are tear gassed and American citizens are detained.”
U.S. District Judge Sarah L. Ellis previously tried to force Bovino to appear daily in federal court to report on the operation after agents used tear gas and disrupted a Halloween festivities at a Chicago grammar school. The appeals court ruled that Bovino was not required to perform daily check-ins.
Investigators have faced criticism for detaining American citizens in the city. A woman who was pinned to the ground and detained by federal agents during a car crash said she was “terrified” by the experience and told USA TODAY her family plans to pursue legal action.
