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The Department of Homeland Security ramped up its Chicagoland operations Tuesday, as ICE’s Operation Midway Blitz was met by resources from Border Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino’s Operation At-Large utilized in Los Angeles in August.
“Well, Chicago, we’ve arrived,” Bovino said in captioning a video taken from vehicles rolling northbound on the Barack Obama Expressway (I-55) toward the Windy City.
“Operation At-Large is here to continue the mission we started in Los Angeles—to make the city safer by targeting and arresting criminal illegal aliens,” Bovino wrote.
“We are already going hard this morning!!! Many arrests,” he told Fox News.
CHICAGO-AREA MAYOR, CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE BRAGS ABOUT LENGTHS HE’S GONE TO FLUMMOX ICE
Demonstrators march past the Chicago Theater during a protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies Sept. 6, 2025, in Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Border Patrol sources told Fox News that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also arrived in the Land of Lincoln, overseeing a morning operation in the exurb of Elgin, Illinois.
A tactical team served a felony arrest warrant for illegal re-entry in one case, with sources saying that roadblock led to the feds making an “explosive” entry into a home.
Noem posted a video showing a man being led out of a house in predawn hours, captioned by a reminder of a situation involving an ICE agent being dragged and severely injured by a vehicle driven by a criminal illegal immigrant who resisted arrest.
“President Trump has been clear: If politicians will not put the safety of their citizens first, this administration will,” she said.
“I was on the ground in Chicago today to make clear we are not backing down,” she said. “Just this morning, DHS took violent offenders off the streets with arrests for assault, DUI, and felony stalking. Our work is only beginning.”
ICE also arrested a violent gang member found guilty of murder charges after a maximum security prison outside Chicago declined to honor a federal detainer.
Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet, Illnois, released Aldo Salazar Bahena in line with Illinois sanctuary policies, and it took three days for ICE to find and arrest him themselves.
Salazar Bahena had been locked up for about 20 years but was released despite a 2016 order of removal signed by an immigration judge from the Justice Department.
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The convict came to the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident in 1998 but never took action to become a citizen and instead retained Mexican citizenship.
Salazar was jailed in connection with the 2005 murder of Fernando Diaz, Jr., who was accused of making disparaging comments about Salazar Bahena’s “Larazo” gang.
He was convicted in Kane County in 2016 and lost legal permanent status, leading to the judge ordering his removal.
