Trendpills
A federal judge in Chicago has ordered the release of hundreds of people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), ruling that the agency likely violated a 2022 consent decree during its recent enforcement actions. The decision represents a significant legal setback for the Trump administration's intensified immigration crackdown.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings found that ICE’s recent arrests in the Chicago area appeared to breach a binding legal agreement known as the Castañón Nava consent decree. This decree prohibits federal agents in Illinois from making arrests based solely on administrative warrants without probable cause that the individual has committed a new, deportable offense. Many of the recent arrests were conducted as part of the nationwide "Operation Safe Communities 3," which has targeted undocumented immigrants with prior removal orders.
Immigrant rights advocates argued that ICE's actions constituted a large-scale violation of the court-supervised agreement. The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), which represents the plaintiffs, stated that over 600 people were apprehended in ways that contravened the decree. During the hearing, attorneys for the government argued that the detainees posed a flight risk, but the judge described the government's conduct as “troubling” and proceeded with the judge's order for release.
The ruling mandates a swift process for releasing those affected. An initial group of 13 individuals was ordered to be released immediately on their own recognizance. The remaining hundreds are set to be processed and potentially freed through bond hearings or other alternatives to detention by a deadline of November 21. This judicial intervention challenges the methods used in recent immigration enforcement operations and underscores the legal constraints on federal immigration authorities in Illinois. The case highlights the ongoing legal battles over the scope of executive power in immigration enforcement for those detained under the administration's crackdown.
