Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Hundreds of people who have been arrested and detained chicago area during trump A federal judge signaled Wednesday that the administration’s immigration crackdown could soon see people released on bond while they await immigration hearings.
During a hearing in Chicago, US District Judge Jeffrey Cummings said he would order the full release of the 13 detained individuals based on a 2022 consent decree that outlines how US Immigration and Customs Enforcement can carry out so-called warrantless arrests.
He also gave government lawyers a Friday deadline to check a list of 615 people detained in county jails and federal facilities across the country to see if they qualify for alternatives to detention under the decree, such as using ankle monitors while their immigration cases proceed. The judge said he would issue an order for their release next week, and in the meantime temporarily halt any deportation proceedings for those who might qualify for bond under the decree.
Lawyers for the detainees hailed Cummings’ move as a victory and said they plan to bring more cases.
“All of ICE’s tactics in the vast majority of arrests have been unlawful,” said Mark Fleming, a lawyer with the Chicago-based National Immigrant Justice Center.
Prosecutors said they are racing against time, as many of the more than 3,300 people suspected of immigration violations arrested in Chicago and its suburbs since “Operation Midway Blitz” began in September have already been deported or released of their own free will.
“We are concerned that he does not have access to an attorney and that he does not have an understanding of what his situation is,” Fleming told the judge.
Will Weiland, A Justice Department The lawyer told Cummings that at least 12 people on the list of 615 were “high risk” and should not be released into communities.
He said, “Your Honor, there is nothing easy in this matter.”
Cummings previously determined that ICE violated the consent decree, which, among other things, requires the agency to show documentation for every arrest except those specifically targeted in an operation.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Cummings listed examples since the crackdown began in which immigration agents have arrested people while they were at work, hanging out or passing through the drive-thru lane at a fast-food restaurant.
“I also find it extremely unlikely that any of these foreign nationals … fall into the category that ICE has called ‘worst of the worst,'” he said.
The Trump administration has described its federal intervention efforts as effective in fighting crime and has praised the agents’ aggressive tactics that have been challenged in court. but among the leaders Illinois Let’s say violent crime was already going down in the Chicago area and federal agents only increased tensions.
While the consent decree includes arrests by ICE, it does not include U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which has been behind some of the most controversial tactics used during immigration operations, including the liberal use of chemical agents.
Department of Homeland SecurityThe agency, which oversees both agencies, has not provided details about its arrests, only highlighting a handful of people living in the country without legal permission who also had criminal histories. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Wednesday’s hearing.
The consent decree, which expired earlier this year, was extended until February. Although ICE’s policy on warrantless arrests applies nationwide, its treatment of individual cases has been concentrated in the six states covered by the ICE field office in Chicago, where the original lawsuit over the immigration sweep was filed. Those states are Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.