Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
A judge will consider Wednesday how to respond to allegations by federal immigration agents chicago The area has used excessive force, following an increase in recent court filings detailing tense encounters between agents and local residents.
The preliminary injunction hearing stems from a lawsuit filed by news outlets and protesters who say agents have used excessive force, including tear gas, during the demonstrations.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Ellis has already ordered agents to wear badges and banned them from using certain riot-control techniques, such as tear gas, against peaceful protesters and journalists. After repeatedly scolding federal officials for not following his previous orders, he added the body camera requirement.
The hearing took place after Ellis interrogated senior border Patrol officer Gregory Bovino at a public hearing last week, where he took the rare step of briefing her every evening on federal immigration actions in Chicago. That move was quickly blocked by an appeals court.
On Tuesday, Bovino once again appeared in court for testimony – a private interview – with attorneys from both sides. Portions of the videotaped statement will be played in court on Wednesday, according to court filings.
Lawyers are also likely to call on their case a pastor who was hit in the head with a container containing a chemical agent while praying outside a federal immigration facility in the western Chicago suburb of Broadview, local officers detained during protests outside the facility, and a protester who alleges he was hit with a flash-bang grenade, causing temporary hearing loss, court records show.
The court filing released late Monday highlights Bovino’s previous statement in which he admitted to throwing tear gas and throwing a rock in Little Village, a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood, last month. Bovino also testified that he “directed his officers to arrest protesters who make exaggerated comments in the heat of political demonstrations,” court records show.
Meanwhile, a federal judge is expected to issue a ruling Wednesday afternoon after a group of detainees filed a class-action lawsuit against federal officials, alleging “inhumane” conditions at a Chicago-area immigration facility.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman called the alleged conditions “needlessly cruel” after hearing from people who were at the facility, detailing cramped toilets, overcrowded cells, no beds and water that “tasted like sewer.” He called for the hearing to be reconvened at 4:15 pm local time on Wednesday so he can issue a temporary restraining order to address the situations.