CHICAGO () The presence of more federal immigration agents and officers in Chicago’s neighborhoods and downtown area is set to persist indefinitely. This continues even as local leaders, such as Mayor Brandon Johnson, openly object to their presence. However, federal officials claim there is a “subtle” shift in the residents’ attitudes that supports their actions.

Gregory Bovino, a commander-at-large with the U.S. Border Patrol, stated on Monday that residents should expect to see federal officers “anywhere in Chicago” as part of an ongoing large-scale, multi-agency federal initiative focused on the area.

Bovino also emphasized on Sunday that this operation will persist for as long as necessary. He and other federal immigration officials believe that their presence is enhancing safety in Chicago and its neighborhoods, even though Illinois Governor JB Pritzker argues their presence does not relate to public safety concerns.

“I believe there’s an issue with crime,” Bovino commented on Monday, pointing to the city’s 573 homicides in 2024. “The city has a bigger problem than Greg Bovino being downtown trying to clean it up because it hasn’t been fixed otherwise.”

Border Patrol agents were prominently seen in downtown Chicago on Sunday, amidst ongoing confrontations between protestors and federal officers at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Broadview, a suburban area.

reported that on Sunday, several individuals, including a family, were detained by federal officers. Witnesses informed that a baby was crying during the arrests.

At a news conference on Monday, Pritzker directed his anger at Bovino and ICE for their presence in Chicago on Sunday and in recent weeks. Pritzker said his officer received numerous confirmed reports of ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers “abusing their power,” intimidating innocent people and waging war on local neighborhoods.

Pritzker said that the Illinois National Guard received a memo announcing that the Department of Homeland Security has asked the Department of War to deploy 100 troops to be deployed to Chicago to protect ICE officers and facilities.

“What I have been warning of is now being realized,” Pritzker said at a news conference on Monday. “One thing is clear. None of what Trump is doing is making Illinois safer.”

Border Patrol Commander defends agents’ interaction as legal and ethical

Bovino said that while arrests were made during the downtown patrols on Sunday, many more “in-depth encounters” took place that did not lead to people being taken into federal custody. A Border Patrol official told on Sunday that eight arrests were made and that two people were detained until their paperwork was verified.

The two detainees were permanent residents, but were not carrying their required immigration documents. One the detainees were verified, they were given citations and were released, the agency told .

Pritzker, referencing a Chicago Sun-Times report, said that Bovino admitted on the record to admitting to arresting people “based on how you look.”

“That’s the baseline,” Pritzker said, adding that ICE is arresting tamale vendors and delivery drivers and “shaking down families” and “harrassing people for not being white.”

Bovino told early Monday that comments made to the newspaper were taken out of context and was “grossly inaccurate.”

Bovino told that agents use a myriad of “articulable facts” that, when combined with agents’ field experience, known intelligence and the observed demeanor of those encountered by agents, determine whether enough reasonable suspicion exists to take a person into federal custody.

Many of those that Border Patrol agents spoke with Sunday were legally documented residents, such as green-card holders and those holding valid immigration documents, Bovino said. Pritzker and other elected officials have accused federal immigration officials, including White House border czar Tom Homan, of racially profiling potential targets based on their skin color and accent as Pritzker inferred on Monday.

Despite the allegation, however, Bovino insists that agents working in Chicago are carrying out their duties in a “legal, ethical and moral” manner that is used by Border Patrol in its everyday operations across the United States.

“It’s not based on the way (someone), looks,” Bovino said. “We don’t go after white people, we don’t go after Black people, we don’t go after brown people, I don’t go after Oriental people. … I go after (those who violate) immigration laws. It’s as simple as that.”

He added: “This is no different than normal operating procedure.”

Who has been arrested by federal agents in recent days?

Among those arrested over the weekend was an Austrian national, who Bovino said was an aggravated sex offender. A Polish resident, whom Bovino said had overstayed his visa, was also taken into custody as part of the downtown operation.

Bovino also said agents arrested a suspected criminal drug cartel member who had been targeted for suspected drug trafficking, who was arrested in the downtown area Sunday.

Bovino declined to specify which cartel the person is associated with, but the arrest came just days after federal agents arrested a suspected Tren de Aragua member during a different enforcement operation in the Chicago area.

The arrests were made in addition to 11 that were made outside of the ICE processing center in Broadview on Saturday. Two of those arrested, who the Department of Homeland Security identified as Jocelyn Robledo and Ray Collins, now face federal charges after Bovino posted on social media that two of those protesting outside of the facility were found with loaded handguns.

Two other protesters taken into custody at the Broadview facility, Paul Ivery and Hubert Mazur, have been charged with forcibly resisting and interfering with federal officers, ABC7 in Chicago reported.

How Chicago residents and leaders are reacting to the federal presence

Bovino said the encounters involving Border Patrol agents “ran the gamut” of responses but said that many involved residents who are thankful that federal officers have been brought in. Both Johnson and Pritzker continued to heavily criticize the deployment of federal officers. A spokesperson for Johnson wrote on X Sunday that Border Patrol agents were “flaunting automatic weapons for no apparent reason.”

“This is another brazen provocation from the Trump administration that does nothing to make our city safer,” the spokesperson wrote.

Some elected officials, including Alderperson Raymond Lopez, have remained vocal in their opposition to Johnson’s lack of cooperation with the Trump administration. Lopez has said repeatedly that he has urged Johnson and Pritzker to work with the administration to help protect local residents.

Lopez told on Monday that by failing to cooperate, Johnson is putting Chicagoans and federal officers assigned to Operation Midway Blitz at risk. Lopez said there is a simpler way for ICE officers to be able to peacefully remove those being targeted by the federal agencies in Chicago and said that could be achieved if local officials cooperated.

“In the interim, what we are seeing is this chaos playing out in neighborhoods all over Chicago and in the suburbs, and we’re basically putting targets on everyone’s back on both sides because we simply refuse to work together,” Lopez told ‘s “Morning In America”.

Despite the continued opposition from many Democrats across the city and state, Bovino senses change coming based on conversations he had on Sunday. He characterized at least 95% of encounters as being positive.

Other encounters, including one caught on video, involved a man on a bicycle who taunted Border Patrol agents by saying he was not a legal U.S. resident and dared agents to detain him. When they attempted to do so, the man eluded capture and was able to speed off on his bike.

However, Bovino senses that more Chicago residents feel differently. He said that some supporters voiced their backing of federal agents during encounters Sunday but did so under their breath out of fear of going against the opinion that federal agents and officers are inciting fear in local communities and neighborhoods.

“You can feel this subtle change in culture and attitude,” Bovino told . “And I think it starts here in Chicago.”

‘s Mills Hayes and Anna Kooiman contributed to this story.