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Gregory K. Bovino, U.S. Border Patrol El Centro sector chief, walks on the scene as a large group of federal law enforcement officers arrive at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles on July 7, 2025. Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
Federal authorities have charged an alleged Chicago gang member with plotting to kill a senior immigration enforcement officer spearheading a large-scale operation in the city.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday that Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, an alleged member of the Latin Kings gang, faces charges of soliciting fellow gang members and others to gather intelligence on the officer and offering $10,000 for his murder.
According to court documents unsealed the same day, the target of the alleged plot was Gregory Bovino, commander-at-large of the U.S. Border Patrol. Bovino has been leading federal enforcement operations in Chicago since mid-September, after previously overseeing a similar mission in Los Angeles as part of the Trump administration’s campaign to combat crimes committed by illegal immigrants in some of the nation’s largest cities.
Investigators said Espinoza Martinez used Snapchat to circulate a photo of Bovino, offering $2,000 for information leading to his capture. He later appeared to raise the offer to “10k if you take him down.”
DHS said it learned of these messages after receiving a screenshot from a source on Oct. 3. Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) identified Espinoza Martinez as the account holder and arrested him on Oct. 6 in Burr Ridge, a suburb 20 miles southwest of Chicago.
DHS said Martinez is from Mexico and entered the United States illegally at an unknown time.
“These attacks on our brave law enforcement officers must END,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement announcing the charge. “ [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem has been crystal clear: If you threaten or lay a hand on law enforcement, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Bovino himself responded Tuesday, posting on X a Fox News interview clip in which he described Chicago as a “war zone” and warned of escalating threats against federal law enforcement there.
“When violent gangs can plot to kidnap and kill law enforcement officers in a U.S. city like Chicago, that means they are feeling way too comfortable,” he wrote alongside the clip. “Time to make them feel uncomfortable.”
Court filings did not list a defense attorney for Espinoza Martinez, and he could not be reached for comment.
The alleged plot surfaced less than a month after DHS launched Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago on Sept. 8.
The operation was launched in honor of Katie Abraham, a 20-year-old Illinois woman who was killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run involving an illegal immigrant, according to the agency. It aims to target “criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois,” where so-called “sanctuary” policies restrict local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities, DHS said in an X post.
State and city leaders, however, have denounced the operation, accusing the Trump administration of deliberately stoking unrest through aggressive police tactics.
“I refuse to let Trump, Noem, and Bovino continue on this march toward autocracy,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said on Monday at a press conference alongside Chicago Mayor and fellow Democrat Brandon Johnson. “Their plan all along has been to cause chaos, and then use that chaos to consolidate [President Donald] Trump’s power.”
“Federal agents who abuse their position to terrorize Illinoisans and incite violence are not welcome,” Pritzker added.
