Judge orders daily meetings with official running Chicago immigration crackdown
Photo by: Nam Y. Huh/AP
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Gregory Bovino arrives outside federal court in Chicago, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
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A federal judge in Chicago took the rare step Tuesday of requiring a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to report to her nightly, marking an unprecedented attempt to oversee the city’s immigration enforcement in real time.
Greg Bovino, who has become the public face of President Donald Trump’s city-by-city immigration operations, must now sit for a daily 6 p.m. briefing with U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis. She will review how agents are enforcing immigration laws and whether their actions comply with constitutional limits.
Ellis also ordered Bovino to provide full use-of-force reports from agents involved in a recent operation—dubbed Operation Midway Blitz—that has resulted in over 1,800 arrests since September. Bovino responded “Yes, ma’am” to each of the judge’s demands.
From the witness chair, Ellis immediately expressed concern over video footage and other evidence from the enforcement campaign, citing recent lawsuits from news outlets and protesters alleging excessive force, including tear gas.
“My role is not to tell you that you can or cannot enforce validly passed laws by Congress,” Ellis said. “My role is simply to see that in the enforcement of those laws, the agents are acting in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution.”
Bovino is chief of the Border Patrol’s El Centro sector in California, one of nine along the U.S.-Mexico border. Ellis said she expects daily in-person updates “to hear about how the day went,” and warned that her oversight could curb the use of tear gas.
The judge specifically criticized reports that agents deployed tear gas during a children’s Halloween parade on Chicago’s Northwest Side, noting the potential trauma to children and families.
“Those kids were tear-gassed on their way to celebrate Halloween in their local school parking lot,” Ellis said. “Their sense of safety was shattered, and it may take a long time to recover, if ever.”
Ellis initially demanded the use-of-force reports by Tuesday, but Bovino said compiling them would be “physically impossible” due to their volume. Government attorneys defended the actions of Border Patrol and ICE agents, arguing that media portrayals have been one-sided.
Bovino will also undergo a deposition with attorneys from both sides. The judge has previously required agents to wear badges, banned certain riot control techniques against peaceful protesters and journalists, and mandated body cameras after tear gas use raised concerns. Bovino must now acquire a camera and complete training by Friday.
Attorneys for a coalition of news outlets and protesters have alleged that agents violated the judge’s order in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, submitting images showing tear gas deployed without justification.
Over the weekend, masked agents in unmarked SUVs were seen on Chicago’s North Side, where chemical agents were again used in the street. Bovino previously led similar operations in Los Angeles, which included thousands of arrests, property damage, and mounted patrols through public areas such as MacArthur Park.
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