Border Patrol deploys marine units to Chicago amid immigration crackdown

U.S. Customs and Border Protection dispatched marine units to the Chicago River on Thursday as part of ICE’s Operation Midway Blitz, a broader immigration-enforcement push. Officials said the operation, which began last month in the Chicago area, has yielded more than 500 arrests, including individuals with serious past convictions and criminal charges. CBP leadership framed waterways as borders, with CBP commander Gregory Bovino telling Fox News, "Where the border's at, that's where Border Patrol is gonna be."

Across routine patrols, the boats extend the agency's reach to a metropolitan area that sits just a few hundred miles from Canada and connects to the Great Lakes. CBP and Homeland Security officials said the operation targets individuals with criminal histories and charges. USBP Chief Michael Banks posted to X that, "Our ability to patrol on the water extends the reach of enforcement." Jonathan Miller, executive assistant commissioner for CBP Air and Marine Operations, posted a video from one of the boats and wrote that, "Operation Midway Blitz here in Chicago is as vital as anywhere else in the country." Chicago's Democratic leaders have criticized the federal surge as heavy-handed and politically contentious.

Democrats and Chicago residents have pressed back, arguing that the crackdown strains immigrant communities and places federal agents into local affairs. Rep. Chuy Garcia, D-Ill., said in a post that President Donald Trump "has terrorized immigrant communities" as mass deportations continue nationwide. Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, told MSNBC's Morning Joe that deploying National Guard troops to Chicago would "impose his authoritarian rule on big cities across the United States" and said he would not cooperate with federal officials on the matter. Trump has signaled that Memphis could be the next target city for a National Guard deployment.

In the broader political dynamic, supporters argue the federal push is needed to curb crime in urban centers, while opponents warn it could erode civil liberties and local control. President Trump has floated more aggressive federal intervention, and supporters point to early indicators of crime trends in other cities. Washington, D.C., where the first attempt at a National Guard presence is underway, has seen a decline in some crime statistics, a result that has drawn praise from Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has publicly supported federal enforcement as part of a broader security plan. Bowser has said the federal strategy can help "clean up our cities" without becoming a broader crackdown on civil rights. The policy remains politically charged as lawmakers weigh the balance between federal action and local governance.

The exchange highlights the fault lines in U.S. politics over immigration and public safety, with federal enforcement actions examined through the lenses of civics, civil rights and electoral calculation. The next steps in Operation Midway Blitz and related proposals remain under debate as federal agencies broaden their footprint in major metropolitan areas across the country.