Chief Border Patrol Agent Greg Bovino dared Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York on Thursday to walk on the streets of Chicago after Goldman dismissed violence against federal immigration enforcement officers.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, have been the scene of multiple riots as opposition to the agency’s operations targeting illegal immigrants has intensified. “America Reports” co-host John Roberts played a clip from Goldman’s Wednesday appearance on “CNN NewsNight,” where the Democratic congressman dismissed the violence before asking Bovino for his thoughts.
“You know, that congressman is flat-out blind. You know, there was that 12k hit on myself. Thankfully, I’m still with the living, perhaps the congressman doesn’t want us to be with the living,” Bovino said.
“So how about him coming down here and walking some of the streets with us and maybe pick up [Democratic] Gov. [J.B.] Pritzker, and we’ll take a walk and see what violence really looks like, because it happens every single day to our ICE and Border Patrol agents,” Bovino continued. “We just had another incident this morning, John. A Border Patrol agent was rammed by a vehicle and someone was taken into custody. It happens every single day, perhaps he needs to come out here and we’ll show him a thing or two.”
“I have not seen… a thousand percent upswing and all this stuff. I haven’t seen examples of that,” Goldman said in the clip Roberts played.
Juan Espinoza Martinez, an illegal immigrant who was a member of the Latin Kings gang, was arrested and charged with offering $10,000 for Bovino’s death and $2,000 for information on the Border Patrol chief, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Some of the rioters in Chicago called for the ICE agents to be arrested or shot in a video posted online during one of the riots.
Two people were killed during a shooting at an ICE office in Dallas on Sept. 24, with the gunman taking his own life. In Texas, there were two previous incidents where shots were fired at ICE or Border Patrol facilities since July 4, with ten people being charged with attempted murder in connection with the former incident.
