More than 600 people who were arrested by ICE as part of its operation “Midway Blitz” in Chicago are to be released, a federal judge has ordered.
District Judge Jeff Cummings issued the release order on Wednesday morning following a lawsuit brought by civil rights groups against ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
At least 615 people are to be released by Friday, November 15, and must make bond by November 21, the order stated.
The lawsuit, brought by the National Immigration Justice Center and the ACLU, alleged that federal agents violated a 2022 settlement agreement over warrantless arrests in Chicago and the surrounding area.
As well as the hundreds marked for release, lawyers say they are pushing for more, especially when those detained do not have a prior criminal history. Fox News reports that 85 percent of those detained by ICE have no prior criminal conviction.
As part of the settlement, ICE agreed that certain conditions must be in place before an arrest of those people without a warrant, including pre-determining whether there was probable cause to believe an individual was in the country illegally. It must also be established whether the person is a flight risk.
Immigration lawyers say these terms have been discarded in hundreds of cases throughout operation “Midway Blitz” – a significant immigration enforcement effort pushed by the Trump administration in the Windy City, which targets individuals described as “criminal illegal aliens” due to Illinois's sanctuary policies.
According to the DHS, operation “Midway Blitz” is being carried out “in honor of Katie Abraham,” a 20-year-old woman who, along with her friend Chloe Polzin, was killed in a hit-and-run car wreck in January.
The incident was allegedly caused by Julio Cucul-Bol, a citizen of Guatemala, the Urbana Police Department said. Cucul-Bol was arrested in Texas on a bus heading to Matamoros, Mexico, Urbana police said. He has since been charged with DUI, reckless homicide and leaving the scene of the crash.
However, the drastic escalation of immigration enforcement in Chicago has been condemned by the community as well as city and state officials, including Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.
Last week, viral footage outside a daycare facility in the northwest side of Chicago showed federal agents dragging a screaming employee outside the building during an early morning arrest.
During the arrest, which reportedly happened in front of parents and children, two Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers aggressively pulled the worker from inside Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Learning Center and pressed her up against an unmarked car parked outside the doors.
