A federal judge in Chicago sharply criticized the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics Thursday, ordering the release of dozens of detainees after finding that Department of Homeland Security officials repeatedly violated a binding consent decree during a major arrest operation this year.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, a Biden appointee, issued the order in a class-action lawsuit alleging that Immigration and Customs Enforcement violated a 2021 consent decree limiting when agents can arrest and detain illegal immigrants in the Chicago area.
The ruling follows an enforcement push known as Operation Midway Blitz, which resulted in the arrests of roughly 3,000 illegal immigrants between June 11 and early October.
Cummings said the government has acknowledged that 46 illegal immigrants were arrested in violation of the decree. Only 13 remain in ICE custody, and the judge ordered all 13 released by noon Friday, "on their own recognizance without bond or conditions of release," consistent with the decree's requirements. He also temporarily blocked their deportations — including voluntary departures — until at least one business day after release.
The Department of Homeland Security sharply denounced the ruling.
"At every turn, activist judges, sanctuary politicians, and violent rioters have actively tried to prevent our law enforcement officers from arresting and removing the worst of the worst," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsmax. "Now an ACTIVIST JUDGE is putting the lives of Americans directly at risk by ordering 615 illegal aliens be released into the community."
However, Cummings' order does not direct the release of all 615 detainees. Instead, it requires DHS to identify by Nov. 14 which of those individuals it considers "high public safety risks." Only those not deemed high-risk can be released by no later than Nov. 21 — and only after posting a $1,500 bond and enrolling in ICE's Alternatives to Detention monitoring program, which keeps them in custody for legal purposes.
Data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse shows ICE is monitoring more than 181,000 people in the ATD program as of Sept. 20 using GPS tracking and check-ins instead of detention.
The broader dispute centers on what Cummings described as an abrupt and unjustified shift in immigration law interpretation by DHS. For years, most illegal immigrants arrested in similar circumstances were treated as detained under Section 1226 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows for bond. But in mid-2025, DHS directed ICE to classify such individuals under Section 1225, a provision requiring mandatory detention with no bond.
Cummings said that change contradicted the text of the law, decades of agency practice, and more than 100 rulings from federal judges nationwide rejecting the administration's position. He noted that every district judge in the Northern District of Illinois has ruled the same way.
Cummings said the relief was necessary because many detainees eligible for protection under the decree have been removed before their cases could be reviewed. The plaintiffs estimated that 60% of all illegal immigrants arrested during Operation Midway Blitz have left the country.
The National Immigrant Justice Center, which represents the plaintiffs, praised the ruling.
"The federal judge's order recognizes the scope and gravity of the constitutional violations the federal immigration enforcement operations have wrought on Chicagoans," said Mark Fleming, NIJC's associate director of federal litigation, in a news release.
By Nov. 19, DHS must turn over the names and risk assessments of another 3,000 to 3,300 individuals arrested since June. A joint status report is due Nov. 24.
Newsmax reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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