Court blocks release of hundreds of immigrants arrested in Chicago-area
crackdown
[December 12, 2025]
By SOPHIA TAREEN
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal appeals court blocked the immediate release of
hundreds of immigrants detained during a Chicago area immigration
crackdown in a split decision Thursday that also allowed the extension
of a consent decree outlining how federal immigration agents can make
warrantless arrests.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments last week about
the 2022 agreement governing how U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement can arrest immigrants besides those being specifically
targeted in an operation. The consent decree has been in the spotlight
amid the Trump administration's Chicago-area immigration crackdown
that's led to more than 4,000 arrests.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, who found the
government violated the agreement, ordered the release of more than 600
immigrants on bond, which the appeals court paused. Roughly 450 remain
in custody, attorneys say.
In the 2-1 opinion, the appeals court said Cummings overstepped his
authority on the blanket release of the detainees without assessing each
case individually. The consent decree “carefully maps out what the
district judge can or cannot order” to balance enforcement and public
safety, according to the opinion. But the ruling also said the Trump
administration wrongly categorized all immigrant arrestees as subject to
mandatory detention.
Plaintiffs' attorneys said they were disheartened by the ruling but glad
the court upheld the extension of the agreement, which among other
things requires ICE to show documentation for each arrest it makes.
Federal judges elsewhere including in Colorado have also ruled to limit
warrantless arrests.
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Attorneys pushed for a quick decision, saying many are being
deported without knowing their options. The hundreds of detainees,
mostly from the Chicago area, were arrested from summer through the
early weeks of the “Operation Midway Blitz” immigration crackdown in
the fall. Attorneys have said they have collected information on
hundreds of more people they believe were also improperly arrested.
“We will work tirelessly to ensure that people who were unlawfully
arrested will be able to return to their families and communities as
soon as possible," said Keren Zwick with the National Immigrant
Justice Center.
A message left Thursday for the Department of Homeland Security was
not immediately returned.
The consent decree, which expired earlier this year, was extended
until February. The federal government tried to challenge the
extension in court.
The agreement was originally reached between immigrant rights groups
and the federal government following a lawsuit over 2018 immigration
sweeps. It applies to immigrants arrested in six states covered by
the ICE field office in Chicago. Those states are Illinois, Indiana,
Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Wisconsin.
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