Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents violated a consent decree by carrying out warrantless arrests in the Chicago area, a U.S. District Judge has ruled.
Detaining more than two dozen people in the early months of President Donald Trump’s second term was unlawful, according to Judge Jeffrey Cummings, appointed by former Democrat President Joe Biden.
His 52-page ruling Tuesday extended the consent decree until Feb. 2, 2026, placing new limits on when ICE agents can conduct such arrests. He also ordered the agency to report how many warrantless arrests are made in the Chicago area.
In September, the Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Midway Blitz to "target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Gov. [J.B.] Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets."
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced this week that, since the operation began nearly a month ago, federal agents "have arrested more than 1,000 illegal aliens — including the worst of the worst pedophiles, child abusers, kidnappers, gang members, and armed robbers."
The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) in Chicago alleged the arrests violate a 2022 consent decree, which bars ICE officials from conducting warrantless immigration arrests unless agents have probable cause that a person is in the country unlawfully and poses a flight risk.
Among the alleged violations are the arrest of an Ecuadorian family, including a 5-year-old child, in a Humboldt Park shopping center parking lot; the detention of a Mexican national with no criminal record during a widely publicized Elgin raid attended by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem; and the detention of a mother and her two young children in Millennium Park.
Mark Fleming, associate director of litigation at NIJC, said the judge's ruling on the Castañon Nava settlement could greatly affect how ICE makes arrests in Chicago and nationwide.
"What we are hopeful for is that the judge recognizes they are systematically violating the law," Fleming told the Chicago Tribune last week. "This could be very significant, and it is incredibly urgent in light of what's happening in the streets of Chicago on a daily basis. We are hopeful that the judge sees the urgency of the moment."
At the June hearing, Fleming outlined a series of enforcement actions that occurred after Trump began his second term and announced plans for mass deportations in Chicago. According to Fleming, ICE agents sometimes used blank warrants, one example of which was provided to the judge.
Fleming added ICE is the "only law enforcement agency in the country that feels it doesn't need to document probable cause" for an arrest.
"DHS complies with all lawful court orders and is addressing this matter with the court," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to the Tribune.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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