'I am not a U.S. citizen': Video shows border agents chasing cyclist after being provoked repeatedly
Armed U.S. border patrol agents in tactical gear briefly chased a cyclist who’d been repeatedly taunting them about his lack of U.S. citizenship as they patrolled downtown Chicago on Sunday in the latest immigration enforcement operation in a major city.
In an extended clip of the tense exchange filmed by independent journalist Christopher Sweat and shared by ABC7 in Chicago, the camera follows a group of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents as they march through a downtown area.
In the background, a voice can be heard repeatedly telling them, “I’m not a U.S. citizen.”
As the officers come to a stop, the camera moves around and a man on an e-bike with what appears to be a cooler bag attached to the front is seen heckling the agents.
“Hey! I’m not a U.S. citizen. Come on,” he says, gesturing towards the group before riding away and appearing to drop something from his jacket pocket.
One of the agents, most of whom are laughing at his gibes, points out that “he dropped his phone,” at which point the cyclist, still taunting the agents, circles around to grab it. As he briefly hops off his bike to do so, agents sprint for him as one of them shouts, “Get him.”
Despite the best efforts of multiple agents, the man is able to run across the street and hop on his bike to pedal away before he can be caught.
A group of United States Border Patrol agents in Chicago chased after a cyclist on Sunday, after he taunted them and repeatedly told them that he was "not a U.S. citizen." https://t.co/bgpj3VofSf pic.twitter.com/IwnhYvFBXt
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) September 29, 2025
Sweat, in his post featuring a shorter video clip , said there’d been “no physical or threatening contact” before the brief chase ensued.
“It just felt like we were in an actual movie,” witness Patrick Gilmore told the Chicago Tribune about the brief incident.
The border agents were in Illinois’ largest and most populated city on Sunday as part of U.S. President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) crackdown on illegal immigration. It included CBP boats deployed to the Chicago River.
Dubbed Operation Midway Blitz when launched in September, DHS said the initiative targets “criminal illegal aliens” who have moved to the city and state of Illinois due to “sanctuary policies” created by Governor JB Pritzker, which offer them protection to “roam free on American streets.”
About two weeks into the operation, the Associated Press said DHS reported 550 people had been detained.
As reported by FOX32 , Senator Dick Durbin said fewer than 30 per cent of those have a criminal background, meaning the others had none whatsoever.
“The president can rant about rapists and murderers and terrorists and criminally insane people coming in as immigrants, but those who are being arrested don’t have any indication of that behaviour,” he said.
Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, meanwhile, have both said having armed and masked agents on the streets is not making the city safer.
“It’s a show of intimidation, instilling fear in our communities and hurting our businesses,” the governor wrote on X.
Johnson called it “another brazen provocation from the Trump administration.”
Trump has also previously threatened to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, as he has for several other cities in recent months, but has yet to follow through.
National Post has contacted DHS and CBP for an update on the operation, the number of detainees and a comment on the Sunday cyclist incident.
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