Judge Plans to Release Hundreds Arrested in Chicago

A federal judge signaled Wednesday that he will release hundreds of immigrants arrested as part of "Operation Midway Blitz" in the Chicago area, citing concerns the arrests may have violated a longstanding ban on warrantless detentions. US District Judge Jeffrey Cummings ordered the Department of Justice to provide, by Nov. 19, a list identifying which of the 615 people swept up in the operation remain behind bars, the Chicago Tribune reports. Cummings said those without a criminal history or prior deportation order will be eligible for release on a $1,500 bond while their immigration cases proceed.

Cummings also ordered the DOJ to provide a full list of those detained in the operation. Attorneys plan to go through the list, believed to include more than 3,000 people, and identify others arrested without warrants, CBS News reports. The move comes as part of an ongoing legal fight over whether federal immigration agents broke a consent decree designed to limit warrantless arrests, reports the Tribune. Attorneys for the detainees allege the government has repeatedly ignored those restrictions. They requested a broad release of most detainees, potentially under ankle monitoring.

Government lawyers counter that each case should be judged individually, arguing the plaintiffs are seeking an overly sweeping remedy. Federal prosecutor William Weiland described the judge's decision as "quite significant" and asked for a pause on any releases so officials could review security concerns. According to Weiland, at least 12 of the 615 detainees are believed to pose a significant risk and require additional vetting. Judge Cummings agreed to give the government time to provide more information on these cases and ordered both parties to submit a status update by Nov. 21.

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Mark Fleming, attorney for the National Immigration Justice Center, said he believes the full list of detainees "will show that this whole operation, for the last two months, the terrorizing of our neighborhoods, the brutalizing of people here, has all been unlawful," CBS reports. He said it will show that ICE's tactics "have been unlawful in the vast, vast majority of arrests. ... So if they plan to come back, now they'll have to abide by these court orders going forward and they cannot do their enforcement in this way."