Border Patrol chief vows retaliation after judge releases wrongly held detainees

U.S. Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino threatened to retaliate after a federal judge suggested as many as 600 detainees could be released due to violations of a consent decree requiring warrants for arrests.

In an order issued on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings said that the Department of Justice must release 13 detainees who were caught during the "Operation Midway Blitz" enforcement operation in Chicago. The judge also ordered the review of 600 others.

"Those illegal aliens came from a myriad of situations, whether they were criminals or individuals that were taking jobs from Americans," Bovino told Fox News on Thursday. "And I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what's going to happen is, we're going to go even harder on the streets."

"If he releases those 650, we're going to apprehend 1,650 on the streets of Chicago," he insisted.

Bovino also said that reports that the Border Patrol was winding down operations in Chicago were incorrect.

"We're ratcheting operations up in Chicago," he remarked. "That's a very corrupt system in Chicago, whether it's those elected leaders like Pritzer or those out-of-control judges."

"Chicago needs some attention," he added. "We're not going anywhere out of Chicago. So you're gonna see some very dynamic operations."

"But one thing that's going to happen is Governor Pritzer is going to see a lot more immigration enforcement, Title VIII, by Border Patrol, ICE, and those allied teams, you can guarantee it."