Video accounts posted online showed the tense moments when an Illinois mayor confronted a Border Patrol chief during an immigration enforcement crackdown in Evanston.
The city’s Mayor Daniel Biss was seen in a video stepping toward and confronting Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino as protesters faced off with federal agents during an immigration enforcement operation.
“The standoff occurred around 11:30 a.m. near Green Bay Road and Dodge Avenue in the city outside Chicago, where an 11-vehicle Border Patrol convoy had arrived to detain multiple individuals. Eyewitness Mark Weyermuller wrote that agents appeared to detain at least two people as the crowd formed,” Fox News reported.
(Video Credit: Fox 32)
“The abuse has not been acceptable. The racism has not been acceptable. The violence has not been acceptable,” Biss, a Democrat congressional candidate, was heard telling Bovino.
“Yeah, that’s why we’re here in your community,” Bovino shot back.
“Hey, Bovino, we don’t want you here, bro! We don’t want you!” protesters shouted at the Border Patrol chief.
Evanston, IL, Mayor Daniel Biss (D), who has joined anti-ICE riots that attempted to obstruct ICE, is now SCOLDING Border Patrol officers for coming to arrest criminal illegal aliens.
Democrats love protecting foreign criminalspic.twitter.com/FUreWI4vwr
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 17, 2025
“As the shouting intensified, multiple protesters tried to block the roadway while police from Evanston and Chicago worked to keep a corridor open for vehicles to leave the area,” Fox News noted.
Biss blasted Bovino and his “masked thugs” in a post on X after the incident.
The only “violent mob” in Evanston today was Greg Bovino and his masked thugs, terrorizing innocent people and then lying about our city to try and sow chaos.
Evanston is safe in spite of ICE/CBP, not because of it. But I am so proud of our people who showed up and chased you… https://t.co/bAQwNwTppm
— Daniel Biss (@DanielBiss) December 17, 2025
“Evanston is safe in spite of ICE/CBP, not because of it. But I am so proud of our people who showed up and chased you out of town,” wrote Biss, who is running for Congress as a “pragmatic progressive.”
“Don’t come back,” he added.
But Bovino called it an “excellent day in Evanston,” writing on X that he hoped the mayor “will see the light as we continue to remove bad people from Evanston.”
I would like to thank both Chicago and Evanston Police Departments who provided assistance in preventing violent mobs from assaulting our law enforcement officers as we were conducting Title 8 immigration duties in the area. Both departments cleared the way for us to continue…
— Commander Op At Large CA Gregory K. Bovino (@CMDROpAtLargeCA) December 17, 2025
“I also had the opportunity to engage with the Evanston Mayor, who asked me why I was in Evanston? I told the mayor that we were there to make his city a safer place through Title 8 Immigration enforcement and how these enforcement operations work,” Bovino wrote.
“Although he fell back into the divisive talking points that we’ve heard ad nauseum from politicians in Chicago, I hope it was enlightening to him,” he added.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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