They’re gone? Really gone?

President Donald Trump’s invasion of Chicago with Border Patrol agents has seemingly fizzled out for now. 

Here’s a bit of advice from a longtime political observer: If Trump or his minions at the Department of Homeland Security claim success at anything, check it out. 

News of the Border Patrol’s departure broke in much the same way as i ts ar r ival , without much explanation or justification. But Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and the agents he commanded in the operation known as Operation Midway Blitz are gone, although some sources say the operation is not over. Bovino and agents may return in the spring. 

For now, the general response in Chicago is “good riddance,” but the Border Patrol is merely taking its dangerously aggressive raids to another unfortunate city, Charlotte, North Carolina, as part of Trump’s crusade to deport immigrants in the country without legal permission. Left behind in Chicago are agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, which runs a detention facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview and maintains a field office downtown. 

Chicagoans can take a lot of pride in the help-your-neighbor spirit with which they stood up to Operation Midway Blitz. They weren’t going to stand by as masked federal agents snatched children and families making their way to work, school or shopping, or just trying to live their lives. Citizens formed protective patrols, and they protested at the ICE detention facility and at courts downtown. In the city and suburbs and small towns where Border Patrol showed up, they stood up and turned out in numbers, sending the message to Trump that subduing Chicago wouldn’t be a layup. 

Volunteers flocked to grab whistles and signal when and where Border Patrol or ICE might be in a particular area. Others organized into round-the-clock shifts, offered residents advice on their rights, and otherwise learned peaceful means of protest. 

Parents organized to guard school entrances, carpool students to class and work with business owners to protect their customers. 

You can hear some of that spirit echoing in Charlotte in reports that residents there have adopted many of the same protest tactics. Good! 

The Department of Homeland Security claimed Midway Blitz was meant to target the “worst of the worst”: murderers, rapists and other violent offenders. However, the Chicago Tribune reported that of 614 people arrested whose identities were made available, only 16 had criminal histories that would present a “high public safety risk.” 

More than 3,300 have been arrested so far in the Chicago area. We may see, as more names get released, whether a higher proportion of violent criminals were netted, but I wouldn’t bet on it. 

Yet that has not stopped Trump and Co. from crowing about how the surge of federal agents has curbed crime in Chicago. 

“Crime way down in Chicago thanks to President Trump and Secretary (Kristi) Noem’s leadership,” Bovino boasted in a social media post. 

But Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker pushed back with data arguing crime in the city has been dropping significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic began to wane in 2022. 

Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 8, the month before Midway Blitz began, the number of homicides had dropped by nearly 30% and shootings were down 36%, as compared with the same period a year ago, according to city data. 

Trump has “shifted from fear-mongering about Chicago to attempting to take credit for our work driving down crime and violence,” Johnson tweeted. “He cannot have it both ways.” 

Pritzker used stronger language. “Trump is a liar,” the governor said in a tweet. “He cannot steal credit from our violence prevention and law enforcement efforts that have reduced crime for four years straight — long before his masked agents showed up.” 

At least the whole controversy seems to have had a remarkably unifying effect on many Chicagoans. Many residents have rallied across lines of ethnicity and citizenship status, showing a unified desire to help their neighbors. 

It’s too bad Trump seems to show less interest in helping the city’s residents solve their local problems than in creating new ones. 

The writer is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.