U.S. District Judge Sarah L. Ellis issued the order after operatives were seen using chemical weapons on protesters.
Border Patrol agents detain WGN-TV employee in Chicago
WGN-TV employee Debbie Brockman was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago.
CHICAGO – A federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois on October 16 ordered immigration enforcement agents in the area to begin using body-worn cameras, according to local news reports.
U.S. District Judge Sarah L. Ellis issued the order in federal court in downtown Chicago after reports that immigration agents clashed with residents in the city’s southeast, ending with agents deploying tear gas and other chemical weapons. Ms. Ellis’ decision came after she issued a temporary restraining order on Oct. 9 restricting immigration officers from using non-lethal weapons against civilians.
“I’m very concerned about what’s been happening over the past week since I issued this order,” Ellis said, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. “In case you guys haven’t noticed, I live in Chicago. And I’m not blind. … I get the news a lot.”
The federal court’s decision comes amid President Donald Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz. Operation Midway Blitz is a crackdown on immigration enforcement in the Chicago area, and the administration says it aims to capture the “worst of the worst” criminal immigrants.
Critics say innocent people are being targeted and that the Department of Homeland Security’s aggressive tactics are upending the lives of many people in the region.
Mr. Ellis’ order was aimed at lowering the temperature by ensuring that immigration officials warn protesters before deploying chemical weapons. But the scene on the city’s southeast side left her with “grave concerns.”
Photos from the scene taken by the Sun-Times and shared by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office show uniformed federal agents pointing non-lethal weapons directly at the faces of unarmed young people protesting the enforcement action.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, ignored the photo’s optical problems. “This is a U.S. citizen who was arrested with his cousin on charges of assaulting law enforcement and throwing rocks. That’s a 40mm launcher that fires bean bags and rubber bullets,” McLaughlin said in a post on X. “But please continue to make this thug your masterpiece.”
What else will the judge’s order cause ICE to do?
Ellis’ Oct. 16 order amends an Oct. 9 order she issued in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of clergy, protesters and journalists who say federal agents improperly used chemical weapons on people outside a suburban immigration enforcement facility.
Trump administration attorney Eric Hamilton said during an Oct. 9 hearing on sending the National Guard to the area that immigration enforcement facilities have become hotbeds of protests and that officials have deployed about $100,000 worth of non-lethal weapons to thwart “riots” who try to disrupt immigration enforcement.
The clergy, protesters and journalists who filed the lawsuit said the officials opened fire without provocation. Among the moments cited was a high-profile video of federal agents shooting a local pastor, the Rev. David Black, in the head with a pepper ball.
In court filings, Ellis said the use of chemical weapons “likely amounted to an excessive use of force” and that the attack on Black was an “unprovoked use of force.”
The original court order required staff to wear identification cards, an important step in a city where many people were angry about masked men detaining people. Give two warnings before using chemical weapons.
Ellis’ ruling applies throughout the Chicago area, where immigration enforcement officers used tear gas “without any warning or apparent justification.”
“The TRO essentially instructs its officers and officers to follow the training they have already received regarding crowd control and what the Constitution requires,” Ellis wrote.
