CHICAGO — Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and dozens of federal immigration agents spent hours Wednesday driving around Chicago and the suburbs, appearing to make minimal arrests but facing continued pushback from enraged community members.

Bovino spoke with a Tribune photographer at a Home Depot in Evanston around noon. He said he’s “taking criminals off the street” and that “luckily we’re, for the first time, receiving some assistance from both Chicago PD and Evanston Police Department.”

“I think probably they’re learning a little bit from Louisiana how an orderly safe enforcement action works, and this what we’re after, is an orderly safe enforcement action,” Bovino said.

Although Bovino did not say what kind of assistance police had given them, Chicago’s self-declared “sanctuary city” status and the Illinois TRUST Act both generally prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from assisting federal agents with immigration enforcement. The Chicago Police Department said in a statement that they did not assist federal authorities with immigration enforcement and that they had been responding to a call from a federal agent who said another vehicle was “attempting to ram them.” The Evanston Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Minutes later, Bovino started arguing with Evanston mayor and congressional candidate Daniel Biss at the store’s parking lot about whether the agents had a warrant to conduct arrests. Bystanders continued yelling and blowing whistles as agents loaded a man in a black hoodie into their vans.

Roughly 100 people surrounded the convoy near a PetSmart, chanting “shame” and demanding agents provide their identities. Residents also blew whistles and hurled insults at the officers at a gas station earlier in the day.

“You are not authorized to remove our residents without any warrant,” Biss said.

“I am. They’re not residents. They’re illegal aliens, that’s not a resident,” Bovino replied. “Don’t use that type of language, Mr. Mayor, that’s the wrong language.”

Biss said he didn’t personally see Evanston police blocking residents from protesting the agents. He said police don’t help or facilitate the agents’ actions, rather that they “keep the peace.”

“I think it’s important in these volatile environments to have actual law enforcement who are interested in public safety, like EPD, as opposed to the ICE and CBP folks,” Biss told the Tribune. “It’s a tragedy that they’re keeping people safe from our federal government.”

To the Tribune, Bovino called the crowd of protestors a “mob.” He said he’s here for the “taxpayer Ma and Pa America” for a “legal, ethical and moral mission.”

Wednesday marks the second day in a row that masked federal immigration agents combed the city and suburbs for a return of force. A federal source told the Tribune that at least 100 agents, Bovino included, were active in the Chicago area for its latest wave of enforcement activity, which comes about a month after the Border Patrol chief and scores of agents left town.

Although the Department of Homeland Security has declined to comment on any specific operations, it appeared Bovino’s latest stint in Chicago won’t last as long as his first. Several local federal law enforcement sources told the Tribune that the latest surge of Border Patrol agents are expected to be in Chicago for only a few days. Other immigration sources said the deployment would be for a week or two. DHS said in an emailed statement only that operations are “ongoing.”

As winter approached, many agents left for crackdowns in other cities, including Charlotte, North Carolina and New Orleans.

During the two-month Operation Midway Blitz, which began the first weekend of September, DHS has said it arrested more than 4,300 but has not offered more detailed figures on the backgrounds of detainees. More detailed data of many of the arrests, both obtained by the Tribune and as part of a federal lawsuit, indicate that most detainees do not have significant criminal records.

Before the convoy made it to Evanston on Wednesday, Chicago Police officers cut off a man who was following the Border Patrol and live-streaming their whereabouts, preventing the patroller from continuing his pursuit of the federal agents at the northern end of Lake Shore Drive, a video shows.

The man, Omar Luna, was narrating as he followed a convoy of vehicles which included Bovino. As the group approached the end of Lake Shore Drive on Hollywood Avenue in Edgewater, Luna announced, “The police is coming.”

“They’re going to want to chase us off,” he said in Spanish. Luna, a U.S. citizen originally born in Mexico, lives on the South Side and became a citizen about a decade ago, he said.

At least three Chicago police vehicles pulled up ahead of Luna’s vehicle to apparently prevent him from following. “The police are working with them,” Luna said.

In an interview, Luna told the Tribune that the Chicago cop who pulled him over said Border Patrol called police to accuse him of attempting to ram them, an allegation he denied.

“We follow them to alert people,” Luna said. “I have never injured them or tried to crash into them.”

CPD said in a statement that a federal agent called in to say another vehicle was “attempting to ram them.” The department said officers located and stopped the vehicles to obtain further information. After speaking with Luna, police said he was able to leave.

“A preliminary review of this incident shows CPD only responded to the call they received regarding potential criminal action,” the statement said. “An internal review to ensure responding officers were in compliance with department policy continues.”

Luna said he started following Border Patrol in Bedford Park, and stayed with them through Cicero, the Stevenson expressway and ultimately Lake Shore Drive, where he was stopped by city cops.

The officer also told Luna he can’t drive with a phone in his hand, according to Luna, who said okay, give me a ticket for that. The officer did not give him a ticket but rather gave him an investigation receipt.

He was critical of the police response and noted they don’t intervene to help residents who are harmed by federal agents.

“If citizens call the police, they won’t defend us,” Luna said. “How many citizens have been arrested and detained? Who defends us as US citizens?”

Much of Bovino’s operation appears made for television moments. Agents made several arrests, including at a supermarket parking lot and tamale stand. They also spent much of their time goading angry residents and protesters who confronted them in city streets and in car caravans.

Bovino told a group of reporters and angry neighbors on a street corner that “we never left.” He ignored a man who asked him for a “rational conversation.”

“All right guys. Merry Christmas if I don’t see you again,” Bovino said, as he walked away from the crowd. Later, at a gas station in Forest Park, he said “We love Chica-ho-ho-ho” as bystanders blared their horns and shouted insults, a video on social media showed.

Unlike in the fall, Bovino isn’t currently under any federal court monitoring, as both a consent decree governing “warrantless” immigration arrests and an injunction limiting the use of force against protesters and the media have been stayed pending further litigation.

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—Chicago Tribune’s reporter Jason Meisner, Laura Rodriguez Presa and Sam Charles contributed.

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