December 17, 2025 Evening Edition

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

ABC7
— Apparent arrest made by federal agents in Chicago area amid concerns of Bovino’s return
https://abc7chicago.com/post/border-patrol-chicago-today-little-village-business-concerned-amid-immigration-arrests-greg-bovino-returns-area/18295179/
— Communities on edge amid apparent immigration-related arrests, Bovino’s return to Chicago area
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7dtqITqHlY
— Trump writes partisan plaques for predecessors in his newly installed Presidential Walk of Fame
https://abc7chicago.com/post/trump-writes-partisan-plaques-predecessors-newly-installed-presidential-walk-fame/18295678/

NBC5
— Judge blocks ICE from requiring members of Congress to provide prior notice before detention center visits
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-blocks-ice-congress-prior-notice-detention-center-visits/
— House passes GOP health care bill without ACA extension
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/house-health-care-vote-republicans-congress/

CBS2
— Bovino and agents return to Chicago area
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/video/border-patrol-cmdr-gregory-bovino-and-agents-return-to-chicago-area/

WGN9
— Border Patrol Commander Bovino back in Chicago
https://wgntv.com/news/operation-midway-blitz/border-patrol-commander-greg-bovino-back-in-chicago/

FOX32
— Evanston mayor Biss confronts Border Patrol chief amid rising immigration fears
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/evanston-mayor-confronts-border-patrol-chief-amid-rising-immigration-fears
— Bovino ramps up immigration raids in Chicago
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/fmc-j23iafl6hbu6nunz
— Chicago groups vow resistance as Border Patrol chief, agents return to area
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-groups-vow-resistance-border-patrol-chief-agents-return
— Chicago vote-by-mail applications open for 2026 primary election
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-vote-by-mail-applications-open-2026-primary-election

WTTW
— Biss Confronts Bovino as Immigration Enforcement Continues
https://news.wttw.com/2025/12/17/evanston-mayor-daniel-biss-confronts-border-patrol-chief-greg-bovino-immigration
— 4 Republicans Defy Speaker Johnson to Force House Vote on Extending ACA Subsidies
https://news.wttw.com/2025/12/17/4-republicans-defy-speaker-johnson-force-house-vote-extending-aca-subsidies

WBEZ
— Bovino’s Border Patrol caravan hits Chicago area for second day, making arrests in Evanston. Bovino had a tense standoff with Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss after federal agents arrested a man at a gas station Wednesday. Later, agents broke out the window of a pickup truck to detain two men outside of a Home Depot.
https://www.wbez.org/immigration/2025/12/17/chicago-immigration-ice-border-patrol-bovino-president-donald-trump-deport-midway-blitz

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Bovino praises police assistance in immigration enforcement as CPD denies support
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/bovino-praises-local-police-assistance-in-immigration-enforcement-argues-with-evanston-mayor-daniel-biss/
— Bovino in Evanston
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_lQWyqU0Xs
— Trump keeping 300 Illinois National Guard troops federalized until April despite no missions
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/illinois-national-guard-federalized-april/
— Illinois Republicans in Congress urge President Donald Trump not to pardon ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/gop-illinois-congress-madigan-pardon-trump/

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Bovino’s Border Patrol caravan hits Chicago area for second day, making arrests in Evanston. Bovino had a tense standoff with Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss after federal agents arrested a man at a gas station on Wednesday. Later, agents broke out the window of a pickup truck to detain two men outside of a Home Depot.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/12/17/chicago-immigration-ice-border-patrol-bovino-president-donald-trump-deport-midway-blitz
— Illinois Republicans tell President Trump to reject Michael Madigan pardon request. U.S. Reps. Darin LaHood, Mary Miller and Mike Bost, staunch Trump allies, penned the request on Tuesday.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/michael-madigan/2025/12/17/illinois-republican-congress-members-president-trump-michael-madigan-pardon-request

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly fight deportation of their illegals.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/politics/border-patrol-returns-haunt-chicago-economy-holidays

EVANSTON NOW
— Immigration raids return to Evanston
https://evanstonnow.com/immigration-raids-return-to-evanston/

ALTON TELEGRAPH
— Trump writes partisan plaques for predecessors in his newly installed Presidential Walk of Fame
https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/trump-s-white-house-adds-partisan-plaques-to-21248405.php

WAND TV
— Sen. Mark Kelly calls Pentagon investigation into his remarks a move to chill military dissent. DD: My Democrat superiors in the federal government chilled my dissent big time. I ever-increasingly dissented their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, and age discrimination. They ever-increasingly wasted my career, took more and bigger adverse actions against me, and then forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997.
https://www.wandtv.com/news/national/sen-mark-kelly-calls-pentagon-investigation-into-his-remarks-a-move-to-chill-military-dissent/article_dbddfc77-3bfc-5fa7-834f-9f52554bf9b4.html

WIFR
— Trump will sign executive order to reclassify marijuana, loosen federal restrictions. DD: Pot is poison. I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton in 2019.
https://www.wifr.com/2025/12/17/trump-will-sign-executive-order-reclassify-marijuana-loosen-federal-restrictions/

CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— Woman sues IRS to have pets classified as dependents
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/national/woman-sues-irs-to-have-pets-classified-as-dependents/amp/

CITIES 92.9
— Amid continued enforcement, Pritzker tells ICE protesters: ‘Do as you have’
https://www.cities929.com/2025/12/17/watch-amid-continued-enforcement-pritzker-tells-ice-protesters-do-as-you-have/

BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
— Bovino Leads Caravan Through Chicago Before Clashing With Evanston Mayor. Wednesday marked Bovino’s second day back on the job in the Chicago area after he left in November.
https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/12/17/bovino-leads-caravan-through-chicago-and-suburbs-clashes-with-evanston-mayor/

DURBIN
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly charge Trump with abusing his powers. The courts in Diersen v. GAO ruled that my Democrat GAO superiors had the power to force me to retire, that is, to fire me, when I was 49 years old in 1997 because I had been an active member in a class action lawsuit since I was 40 in 1988 that charged them with reversed discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation.
https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-highlights-the-senates-responsibility-to-hold-the-executive-branch-accountable-amid-president-trumps-abuses-of-powers

CHALKBEAT
— Illinois quietly changes scholarship for teachers of color amid lawsuit, threats from federal government
https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2025/12/17/illinois-teacher-diversity-scholarship-changes/

CAPITOL FAX
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2025/12/17/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-438/
— Bovino: ‘We’re here for the taxpayer’
https://capitolfax.com/2025/12/17/bovino-were-here-for-the-taxpayer/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Biss Calls for Repeal of Second Amendment
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/17/biss-calls-for-repeal-of-second-amendment/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Trump owes America — and the Reiner family — an apology
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/17/donald-trump-owes-america-reiner-family-apology/
— Trump wounds MAGA brand with inhuman rant on Rob Reiner. Polls show once-fierce supporters are bailing in droves.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/17/trump-wounds-maga-brand-inhuman-rant-rob-reiner/

NEW YORK POST
— Trump rips predecessors Biden, Obama and Bush with new plaques on ‘Presidential Walk of Fame’
https://nypost.com/2025/12/17/us-news/trump-rips-predecessors-biden-obama-and-bush-with-new-plaques-on-presidential-walk-of-fame/

COLLEGE FIX
— Illinois amends ‘minority teachers’ scholarship to end federal lawsuit
https://www.thecollegefix.com/illinois-amends-minority-teachers-scholarship-to-end-federal-lawsuit/

FOX NEWS
— Protesters CONFRONT federal immigration agents in Chicago. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino details street arrests of illegal immigrants in Chicago as residents protest immigration agents.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6386612177112
— ICE chief fires back at ‘100% false’ sanctuary city ‘harassment’ claims. Todd Lyons says sanctuary cities force agents into communities by releasing convicted criminals.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/ice-chief-fires-back-sanctuary-city-harassment-claims-100-false

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

PBS
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly blame Trump for everything that is bad.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/americans-are-more-dissatisfied-with-trumps-handling-of-the-economy-than-ever-poll-shows

WORKERS WORLD
— Young workers reject capitalism’s dead-end future. DD: Under socialism, everyone is a government employee. Ever since I became a government employee when I was 18 years old in 1966, my critics/opponents have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that if I had been a private sector employee, I never would have had the career successes that I had. They have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted a) that career advancement in government is much easier than it is in the private sector, but nevertheless, I never earned more than $153, 151/year in today’s dollars notwithstanding the fact that I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license. In my defense, my Democrat superiors in the federal government wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997. They would not have done that if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, and/or veteran. How successful in the private sector would someone with my qualifications have been?
https://www.workers.org/2025/12/89607/

Author: David Diersen

The opinions that I express in GOPUSA ILLINOIS emails are based on experience that I have gained doing many things since 1948. I base my opinions on what I learned a) working for the federal government for almost 30 years -- Post Office 1966-1969, IRS 1971-1980, and GAO 1980-1997, serving on the Executive Committee of the Association of Government Accountants Chicago Chapter 1983-1996, and being a union member while I worked for the Post Office and IRS; b) earning an MBA from Loyola in 1976, a masters degree in accounting from DePaul in 1980, and a masters degree in financial markets and trading from IIT in 1997; c) passing the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979 and passing the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981; c) serving as a Republican Precinct Committeeman since 1999, the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000, the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois Chairman 2005-2012, a member of the 2008 Illinois Republican Party (IRP) Platform and Resolutions Committee, a Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee member 2003-2011, the Milton Township Republican Central Committee webmaster 2008-2010 and 2000-2004, an Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee member 2003-2007, and an American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter board member 2001-2004; d) attending the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 IRP State Conventions as a delegate; e) being the subject of a nasty 4-page article in the February 1978 issue of Money Magazine; f) pursing litigation including Diersen v. GAO and Diersen v. Chicago Car Exchange; g) being married since 1978; h) living in Crete 1948-1972, in University Park 1972-1976, in Chicago 1976-1978, and in DuPage County, Milton Township, and Wheaton since 1978; and i) being baptized, raised, and confirmed as a Missouri Synod Lutheran.