Like uninvited guests who have overstayed their welcome, a force of camouflaged federal agents may be leaving Lake County shortly. Maybe.
If so, it’s none too soon. The Chicago Tribune, citing three sources, reported the other day that Border Patrol honcho Gregory Bovino was moving to another posting and many in his posse will be redeployed elsewhere.
However, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson countered that, saying that while Bovino may be spirited away, other federal crews aren’t leaving, despite being unwelcome in most of the region. That being said, a photo of agents posed last week in front of Chicago’s steel-polished Cloud Gate sculpture, aka “The Bean,” and circulated widely sure looked like it was taken as a memento of their tour of duty, suitable for framing when back home.
Bovino was in Waukegan last week, picking up snacks at a mini-mart, taking a break from patrolling for undocumented residents. Many Lake Countians will be glad to see Cmdr. Bovino and his camouflaged minions pack up their gear and depart the area, if indeed they are clearing out.
That would include Waukegan 3rd Ward Ald. Juan Martinez and Mayor Sam Cunningham. Martinez had the bejesus scared out of him last week as four immigration agents pulled rifles and pistols on him while he was driving along Baldwin Avenue, in a normally quiet city neighborhood.
Cunningham has criticized the presence of lawmen from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol in Waukegan and other county locales for the past two months. The federal squads have been here as part of the DHS “Operation Midway Blitz,” which began in September targeting the undocumented.
Reportedly, the activity has resulted in the roundup of more than 3,000 people. That includes the arrest of about a half-dozen people at several different locations in Waukegan just last week for being in the U.S. illegally, allegedly. One never knows for sure because immigration officials normally fail to return media queries on what they’ve accomplished in their “blitz.”
With federal agents roaming the city, Cunningham and other officials have protested their actions, which at times have seemed ham-handed. With all the guns being drawn during these ICE missions, it’s lucky that no one’s been shot or seriously injured in Lake County.
“As he has in other cities, Mr. Bovino came here to escalate chaos, to provoke confrontation and to spread fear,” the mayor said in a statement calling out the Border Patrol bigwig. “Let me be absolutely clear: Greg Bovino did not come to Waukegan to serve, to protect, or to help.”
Last month, the Waukegan City Council adopted a resolution barring the use of city property for staging areas, processing locations or bases for federal immigration enforcement. “This resolution reaffirms the city’s commitment to ensuring that all residents feel safe engaging with local government and law enforcement, regardless of immigration status,” city officials said in a statement. “The city of Waukegan is here to build trust, not barriers.”
It appears Ald. Martinez was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he got caught in the dragnet of feds rummaging about Waukegan. Undoubtedly, these were feds masked up and dressed in their ubiquitous camouflage kits.
The wearing of camo uniforms by the federal force has puzzled many as they scope out city streets in Chicagoland. Not much jungle or woodlands to traverse while on the hunt for undocumented Illinoisans.
Those who have been in the military, especially the infantry, probably received a few days of instruction in how to use various types of camouflage in order to have soldiers blend in and mimic their surroundings. Hunters, too, know this.
Camo comes in all sorts of colors and types — among them jungle, desert and urban — depending on the military mission. Unsure what type of camo these federal agents have been sporting in Lake County, but it certainly isn’t urban, which has gray, black and white patterns.
Looks like they’ve been donning a mix of olive drab and dusty- brown tiger stripe, perhaps more suited for our borders in the dry Southwest or the Middle East. The tiger-stripe pattern, first used by the French army during its losing battle with the Viet Minh in Indochina, was popularized by some U.S. ground units while deployed in the jungle and dense forests during the Vietnam War.
Today, most armies across the globe have various types of camouflage uniforms, depending on vegetation and terrain. Of course, that includes U.S. military forces, with each branch having its own camo uniforms.
Which perhaps is why Border Patrol and ICE are not attired in official police dress we see in towns across Lake County worn by cops, but in autumn-colored camo regalia. They want to give the impression they are part of the military as they intimidate and corral undocumented residents with abandon.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
sellenews@gmail.com
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