{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreihgeydioyvlicvvlukndtaolnwfdjswdkem3lvqzulkzyq6frou34",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:ha7wpngv4f2qwrk5hta4ktbb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mh7iemvltnm2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreiayjtmg3emtoxej7aaep6a3sczjnci6nrswhgup6l7snjudcfcgfy"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 195152
  },
  "path": "/immigration/2026/03/16/chicago-bovino-trump-pritzker-ice-border-patrol-midway-blitz",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-16T21:51:49.283Z",
  "site": "https://chicago.suntimes.com",
  "textContent": "<p>Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday celebrated the reported retirement of U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, who led President Donald Trump’s aggressive — and at times deadly — deportation campaigns in Chicago and other cities.</p><p>“Greg Bovino won’t just get to walk away — he will be held accountable and responsible for the damage he’s done to our nation,” Pritzker said on the social media platform X. “We won’t forget, and neither should you. No one is above the law.”</p><p>Bovino reportedly told <a class=\"Link\" href=\"“The greatest honor of my entire life was to work alongside Border Patrol agents on the border and in the interior of the United States in some of the most challenging conditions the agency has ever faced.” Bovino went on to add, “Watching these agents out there giving it their all in some of the most dangerous of environments we have ever faced was humbling.”\" target=\"_blank\" >Breitbart</a> he plans to reture at the end of the month, and other outlets have since reported the news. The Sun-Times hasn’t independently verified those reports. A DHS spokesperson said, “Chief Bovino has not submitted any retirement paperwork.”</p><p>Bovino became <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/12/12/gregory-bovino-border-patrol-deportation-elcentro-california-blowing-rock-boone-north-carolina-migrants-immigration\" target=\"_blank\" >the face of the Trump administration’s controversial immigration enforcement efforts</a>, using social media to tout arrests and take on critics, including Pritzker. Agents under his command in Chicago made allegedly <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/donald-trump/2025/10/17/gregory-bovino-border-customs-enforcement-deportation-trump-california-chicago\" target=\"_blank\" >race-based stops</a>, used <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/11/14/ice-bovino-border-patrol-homeland-security-chicago-police-department\" target=\"_blank\" >risky tactics and pummeling force</a> and often deployed chemical irritants against protesters.</p><p>U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis ultimately <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/06/judge-sara-ellis-operation-midway-blitz-tear-gas-deportation-campaign\" target=\"_blank\" >restricted the feds’ use of force</a> under Bovino’s watch in an order that was formally vacated earlier this month by a federal appeals court. Ellis notably accused Bovino about lying under oath about his justification for the use of tear gas in Little Village.</p><p>Bovino was <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/01/26/border-patrol-gregory-bovino-tom-homan-immigration-alex-pretti\" target=\"_blank\" >sent back to the El Centro Sector</a> in Southern California following the killing of Alex Pretti on Jan. 24 in Minneapolis. Pretti, a nurse for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, was fatally shot by two Customs and Border Protection agents.</p><p>After the shooting, Bovino said Pretti “approached law enforcement with a weapon” and sought to “massacre” them — a claim that was quickly undercut by video evidence, though Pretti was legally carrying a weapon.</p><p>Bovino was hired before July 6, 2008, making him <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.cbp.gov/employee-resources/retirement/leo-cbpo/cbpo-retirement\" target=\"_blank\" >exempt from the agency’s mandatory retirement</a> — which is the last day of the month in which a CBP employee both turns 57 and reaches 20 years of service. He turns 56 later this month.</p><div class=\"RelatedList Enhancement\" data-module data-align-center> <div class=\"RelatedList-title\">Related</div> <ul class=\"RelatedList-items\"> <li class=\"RelatedList-items-item\"> <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/12/12/gregory-bovino-border-patrol-deportation-elcentro-california-blowing-rock-boone-north-carolina-migrants-immigration\" target=\"_blank\" >Greg Bovino’s the star of Trump’s deportation show. We trace his roots.</a> </li> <li class=\"RelatedList-items-item\"> <a class=\"Link\" href=\"Judge blasts Trump’s Chicago border ‘Blitz,’ extends curbs on use of force that ‘shocks the conscience’\" target=\"_blank\" >Judge blasts Trump’s Chicago border ‘Blitz,’ extends curbs on use of force that ‘shocks the conscience’</a> </li> <li class=\"RelatedList-items-item\"> <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/11/14/ice-bovino-border-patrol-homeland-security-chicago-police-department\" target=\"_blank\" >Tear gas, car crashes, chokeholds: Risky tactics have driven Trump’s Chicago deportation ‘blitz’</a> </li> </ul> </div> <p></p>",
  "title": "Pritzker taunts Bovino amid reports of Border Patrol chief’s retirement: 'No one is above the law'",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-16T21:54:51.084Z"
}