Border Patrol Chief Bovino says Chicago efforts ‘vindicated’ after court reverses order restricting operations

Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino declared the Trump administration’s Chicago immigration crackdown "vindicated" Monday after a federal appeals court threw out a sweeping injunction that had curtailed enforcement operations in the city.

On Monday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit tossed out a preliminary injunction against federal officers enforcing immigration law in the Chicago area issued by Obama-appointed Judge Sara Ellis. The circuit court issued a blistering rebuke of Ellis’ injunction, calling it "overbroad" and "constitutionally suspect." The ruling effectively erases the lower court’s restrictions on federal immigration operations in Chicago, delivering a legal victory to federal immigration authorities and giving the controversial official fresh political ammunition after months of backlash.

After the ruling, Bovino posted on X, "Chicago efforts vindicated!!! Well done."

"What's not suspect is legal, ethical, and moral Border Patrol Agents conducting operations in Chicago. Well done, Border Patrol! TRUTH came through!" he wrote in another post.

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Bovino was recently pulled out of his leading role in Minneapolis amid intense controversy over the killing of two anti-ICE activists, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, by federal officers. He has faced intense criticism from Democrats across the country.

In his previous role as Border Patrol commander at large, Bovino became the face of many of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations, including Chicago, Minneapolis and Los Angeles.

Bovino was replaced by border czar Tom Homan as head of the Minneapolis operation in January. He was returned to his previous role as chief of the Border Patrol's El Centro Sector in Southern California.

Despite the criticisms leveled against him, after the circuit court ruling, Bovino touted Border Patrol agents as the "most highly trained, experienced agency ready to take on expeditionary type missions in the toughest of environments."

"Our operations are conducted with much foresight with the most experienced, proven, and battle hardened agents the Border Patrol has to offer to ensure we WIN every time," he added in another tweet celebrating the ruling.

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In its ruling, the appeals court panel faulted Ellis for applying her injunction not just to specific officers but "the entire Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, as well as anyone acting in concert with them." The panel criticized this, saying it "effectively established the district court as the supervisor of all Executive Branch activity in the city of Chicago."

Ellis had issued a lengthy 233-page opinion explaining why she granted the class-wide preliminary injunction against Homeland Security and Justice Department authorities carrying out immigration enforcement in Chicago. Her order followed a string of clashes between protesters and agents during Operation Midway Blitz, the effort launched last year by the Trump administration to crack down on illegal immigration and street crime in Chicago.

Ellis justified the injunction by saying it was not novel and that it only ordered federal agents to follow current DHS policies regarding use of force and body-worn cameras.

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"In other words, the Court’s order should break no new ground, and indeed it tracks similar orders entered in other crowd control cases across the country," Ellis said.