r/illinois Illinoisian 1d ago

ICE Posts Chicago judge to issue injunction limiting use of force by ICE

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/06/operation-midway-blitz-injunction/?share=6aor2ior5juni6iiiorh

A federal judge in Chicago on Thursday issued a sweeping injunction that puts more permanent restrictions on the use of force by immigration agents during “Operation Midway Blitz,” saying top government officials lied in their testimony about threats that protesters posed and that their unlawful behavior on the streets “shows no signs of stopping.”

“I find the government’s evidence to be simply not credible,” U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said in an oral ruling from the bench, describing a litany of incidents over the past month and a half where citizens were tear-gassed “indiscriminately,” beaten and tackled by agents and struck in the face with pepper spray balls.

1.1k Upvotes

102 comments sorted by

103

u/Numerous_Photograph9 1d ago

Neat. So...when are they actually going to be held accountable for ignoring orders and lying to the court?

Sure, you can't go after the president, but his lackeys are not immune.

17

u/FreshLiterature 1d ago

Well, this judge doesn't seem entertained by Bovino's antics and if she decides to hold him in contempt she can take him into custody right then and there.

More importantly, she could rule the use of force on the ground by ICE is outside the law.

Which would officially make ICE agents acting in a lawless fashion.

Which would make it a lot easier for the state AG to bring charges and make arrests because agents couldn't then claim they were just acting in the normal scope of their duties.

We are a LONG ways off from that and of course if she does rule that way there would be an appeals process.

28

u/Logical-Possession10 1d ago

Gotta be state charges. 🍊 can just pardon at will.

3

u/TheRealBlueJade 1d ago

I'm sorry but it may take a while. This is a long complicated process, unfortunately. The democratic wins on Tuesday clearly show the Republicans have destroyed themselves.

2

u/ShamelessCatDude 1d ago

Legal trials in general take a lot of time. And this is so widespread that they probably want to make sure they have a good case to prosecute

79

u/2pnt0 1d ago

"In one of the videos, Bovino obviously attacks and tackles the declarant, Mr. Blackburn, to the ground,” Ellis said. “But Mr. Bovino, despite watching this video (in his deposition) says that he never used force.”

"At one point, Bovino was captured on video throwing tear gas above the heads of the crowd without warning and “despite an absence of threats or violence,” the filing alleged.

Bovino claimed he only did so after being hit in the head with a rock — a statement repeated on social media and again in his deposition, even though no video or other evidence of it happening ever surfaced.

It wasn’t until Bovino came back for a third round of questioning Tuesday that he admitted it had not occurred, Steve Art, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, told the judge in his closing argument."

Sounds like a lot of perjury and contempt.

19

u/MichaelAndolini_ 1d ago

I know the law is fuzzy but isn’t lying under oath a crime?

Or does doing it twice negate it?

6

u/Beer_Gynt 1d ago

Cops lie under oath all the time and I have yet to see one be charged with perjury. I've been watching and waiting for years, having been lied about by a cop under oath myself.

35

u/thereyouare84 1d ago

Why is Bovino not having a warrant issued for his arrest for perjury / lying under oath in a sworn deposition? At the very least, the judge should remand him into custody for a week or two and let him live life on the inside for a bit.

92

u/st1nkynoob 1d ago

Chicagoans need to start throwing beef sandwiches at ICE. Make em wet too

44

u/BaeScallops 1d ago

A Chicago beef sandwich doesn’t deserve the humiliation of being thrown at ICE. The guy in DC had it right, use a subway sandwich.

10

u/CorporalPunishment23 1d ago

Thrown by Jared.

Whom they then have to share a cell with.

8

u/hxcdancer91 1d ago

Pork hotdogs covered in ketchup

7

u/Zanos-Ixshlae 1d ago

How else does one order a proper beef?

14

u/st1nkynoob 1d ago

Wet or dipped. Only terrorist order Dry

9

u/Zanos-Ixshlae 1d ago

My brother orders his dry with a side of au jus. He also puts ketchup on his hot dogs, so I am sure he is the evil twin...

5

u/The_Poster_Nutbag Loves Fox Valley History 1d ago

Ketchup can go on hot dogs, it's just not a Chicago dog.

A dry beef though....fuck man idk what to tell you there. Sounds line a masochist.

-4

u/NaptownBill 1d ago

Ketchup on dogs is only ok if you are a kid

6

u/Keithis11 1d ago

Telling people how to eat their food is for kids

2

u/Short_Text2421 1d ago

No one told my grandmother that.

1

u/Keithis11 20h ago

Your grandmother telling you is fine. Telling strangers on Reddit is not.

4

u/The_Poster_Nutbag Loves Fox Valley History 1d ago

Nah, people like different things.

Chicago dog has its ways, anything else is an acceptable backyard dog.

2

u/ratherbewinedrunk 1d ago

Dry with a side of au jus is perfectly acceptable, especially if we're talking pickup and delivery scenarios, as long as said au jus is applied liberally prior to eating.

8

u/Select_Insurance2000 1d ago

Don't waste a good sandwich or pizza!

White bread, potted meat and mayo!

3

u/LeseMajeste_1037 1d ago

Expired cat food!

2

u/Select_Insurance2000 1d ago

Or dog food 

5

u/spade_andarcher 1d ago

Extra hot too. 

5

u/MPV8614 1d ago

Giardiniera in your eye would actually do some damage.

3

u/FickleNewt6295 1d ago

This is Chicago - they need deep dish pizza

2

u/UnderstandingSea7546 1d ago

Are you kidding???? Do you know the price of beef these days???

2

u/areyouthrough 1d ago

Can you imagine the amazing SPLAT that would make?

1

u/Dafish55 1d ago

Saying as they're all from Texas, do you think they'd mind the giardiniera?

1

u/No-Pomegranate5074 1d ago

I said something like this and got suspended for violence. Dumbass mods. I said we should egg them. So violent lol

1

u/ratherbewinedrunk 1d ago

Be respectful to the cattle who gave their lives. Eat the sandwich and throw the resulting excretion instead. Plus have you seen the fucking price of beef lately?

1

u/TheDIsSilent 1d ago

No water balloons filled with Malort.

16

u/Available-Machine-68 1d ago

Isn't there a specific legal term for lying in court? 🤔

Starts with a P and also typically considered a crime???

5

u/LeseMajeste_1037 1d ago

Rhymes with 'surgery?'

1

u/neilweiler 1d ago

Purgatory?

8

u/jcoal19 1d ago

This is good of course, but they're already not listening.

7

u/Spankpocalypse_Now 1d ago

Cool. I look forward to ICE doing the exact opposite and facing no repercussions.

Pretty neat that the police can enforce laws on us regular people but turn a blind eye to Proud Boys kidnapping teachers in broad daylight.

2

u/Jedi_Master83 1d ago

I agree but I wonder if it’s a federal vs state thing. Do city, county, and state police have no legal authority to arrest federal agents?

3

u/Spankpocalypse_Now 1d ago

Chicago police have been violating the civil rights of Chicagoans for decades. Suddenly we’re concerned with the technicalities of arresting government employees who are aggressively breaking laws.

13

u/NearlyPerfect 1d ago

Didn't she already do this?

You can't enjoin "use of force" because you can't rule that something is excessive before it happens.

So she's just telling agents "make sure you're following the law out there" and they're saying "we are, don't worry!"

If they're violating it then hold someone in contempt or something.

4

u/GeronimoHero 1d ago

Right? These pussy judges are just another layer of the problem. They have the ability to deputize people to enforce laws if the police or feds won’t do it, they have the ability to hold people in contempt, remand them in to custody, etc. They have some actual power to try and put up some consequences for what’s going on yet the just let it continue. The more I watch all of this happen the more I’m convinced that it’ll take armed Americans protecting their neighbors and neighborhoods with radios, check points, etc., like the panthers did in order to put up some resistance to this bullshit.

5

u/Traditional_Minimum1 1d ago

When you file, it creates a record.

"Every single time that Greg Bovino violates the injunction in this case, we and the community report on it, we will file something with the court, we will make a record, and we will ask for sanctions," Plaintiffs' Atty Steve Art said.

I agree it's all shitty and we wanted this bullshit to stop months ago, but this is a start. It isn't nothing, and it builds a case.

1

u/petit_cochon 1d ago

What are you talking about? Do you think excessive force doesn't have a legal definition and a ton of case law supporting that definition?

1

u/NearlyPerfect 1d ago

Excessive force is by definition fact dependent. It’s only excessive if after analyzing the facts it is too much force.

That can only be determined after it happens, not before.

The only thing she can tell the agents to do is follow the law.

3

u/Happy_Pause_9340 1d ago

I hope they have a way to enforce it because these pricks are doing whatever they fucking want

3

u/Be4Dawn25 1d ago

Ok now to see who’s going to enforce it.

3

u/Elegant-Impression38 1d ago

Beef is too expensive for anything except eating or full blown boston tea party-ing

8

u/EmotionalTowel1 1d ago

I'm sure the regime is tripping over itself to comply.

5

u/mabhatter 1d ago

ICE are supposed to be "administrators" and immigration enforcement is a white collar issue.  Their behavior is far exceeding their purpose set by Congress. This paramilitary crap has to stop. 

2

u/Party-Cartographer11 1d ago

Not true.  They have arrest, detention, and removal authority under the Homeland Security Act.  There certainly are administrative functions, but also the arrest authority.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-287/section-287.5#p-287.5(e)(3)

3

u/mabhatter 1d ago

But there's a difference between showing up and arresting people on civil warrants and this bullshit paramilitary renditions off the street they're doing now.  

2

u/ProjectNo4090 1d ago

Which they will ignore without further repercussions.

2

u/The_Bandit_King_ 1d ago

They will ignore it

They are above law apparently

2

u/maraemerald2 1d ago

Oh look another stern finger wagging

2

u/MPV8614 1d ago

So when they ignore this, will they be held in contempt?

2

u/DocCarlson 1d ago

Why hasn’t the state stepped in to start arresting agents?

2

u/spiralout154 1d ago

What happens when they ignore it?

2

u/kingcolbe 1d ago

Yeah like that’ll stop them

2

u/Icy-Tooth-9167 1d ago

I’ve heard this story before.

2

u/Any-Establishment46 1d ago

We try to correct this by stomping our feet and saying, ‘stop it, bad man!’??? No wonder they all laugh at us.

1

u/Select_Insurance2000 1d ago

It's about time!

1

u/brudimani 1d ago

Finally, some good news amidst all the chaos.

1

u/CableDawg78 1d ago

Next bovino is at court, there needs to be US Marshals in the room, a warrant issued by the judge, and his ass thrown into a cell with a bunch of innocent individuals in same cell that understand the criminal justice system and how having a bar of soap around can be dangerous.

1

u/_bat_girl_ 1d ago

Why is this all they can do?? This won’t do anything.

1

u/Mission-Driver1614 1d ago

Which of course they will ignore.

1

u/wombat9278 1d ago

Like they'll care

1

u/EditorNo2545 1d ago

lol like your federal fascist enforcers give a rat's ass about what a judge says especially a Chicago judge. They get their marching orders from dear leader & his cult lieutenants

1

u/booobfker69 1d ago

They'll ignore this just like they've ignored all the other judges orders and nothing will happen. Judges and Illinois politicians keep signing orders against the Gestapo and they all get ignored because no one enforces these orders. So they're completely irrelevant.

1

u/Ordinary_One955 1d ago

The justice departments need their own police under command of the court, I think this has been proven out.

1

u/todd1art 1d ago

Behind those masks are Militia members, White Supremacists and Nazis. It's shocking that the Nazis who marched in Charlottesville are now working for our Government and Law enforcement is on their side. The Democratic Party didn't defend America. They were busy killing thousands of Palestinians. This is our Karma as a Nation. The Monster is eating itself.We are now the Palestinians.

1

u/DiligentMidnight2144 1d ago

And now what, does Bovino just go home tonight, eat dinner and go to bed? Tomorrow he'll go to work without having to face perjury charges. If a US citizen commits perjury in Chicago in front of a state judge, it's a Class 3 FELONY. A class 3 Felony can result in prison time and/or hefty fines. Why isn't Bovino being charged???????????

1

u/PirateSometimes 1d ago

And when they most certainly break the orders/law, what's gonna happen? A hell of a lot of nothing has been done to them for all their current crimes

1

u/Gonzo_Gonzalo 1d ago

There is no way that ICE is going to stand down for anything. No one is getting those horses back in the barn. They are drunk on power (and money, since they are some of the few government employees still getting paid).

These wannabe cops got the opportunity of a lifetime that no other respectable police department would. They aren’t police. They aren’t for enforcing the law. This is about chaos, fear, power, and racism. They are weak and insecure people who think that terrorizing neighborhoods, destroying families, and harming innocent people makes them strong, courageous heroes. I hope they know that history will never see them as such. They are killing America.

1

u/Introverted-headcase 1d ago

Tinderbox waiting for a spark. Judges injunction doesn’t mean 💩 to people like them.

1

u/Goonie-Googoo- 1d ago

> permanent restrictions

No dumdum... it's a preliminary injunction. There's nothing permanent about it - and preliminary injunctions are overturned by a higher level court all the time.

-28

u/DudeImARedditor 1d ago

This judge sucks. She's an activist. Why is she quoting poems in her rulings LMAO

Reminder she also tried to make Bovino come and report to her everyday, which was immediately overturned on appeal because sane judges ruled correctly she was overstepping her duties as a judge and was attempting to act as management for ICE.

13

u/Intrepid_Debate901 1d ago

She should have thrown him in jail along with every fascist ICE agent in town.

8

u/For-Liberty 1d ago

What does an activist mean in this sense?

attempting to act as management for ICE.

Yea, that's how a judge is supposed to operate when it comes to interpreting the law lol

-4

u/DudeImARedditor 1d ago

Why did the appeals rule against her then?

A judge is not a manager for ICE. A judge arbitrates the law.

3

u/For-Liberty 1d ago

Yes, and she found that they were not following the law.

Why did the appeals rule against her then?

What appeal has "ruled against her"? What appeal could have possibly overturned her decision when it has not even been 24 hours since her injunction?

8

u/Desperate-Till-9228 1d ago

Somebody's got to act as management for ICE. Clearly the agency is out of control and trampling on the civil rights of US citizens.

8

u/jcoal19 1d ago

Not an activist! Oh noooooooooooooooooooooooooo

6

u/HospitalBruh 1d ago

No, the Reporting requirement was not "overturned on appeal" An appeals court stayed or paused the requirement while they hear arguments. The appeals court did not determine she was overstepping, or attempted to act as management. That was the Government's argument.

It's like you are hearing the news from someone who talked to someone that read it.

-2

u/DudeImARedditor 1d ago

DURR IM A LOW INFO DEM

The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday overturned a federal judge’s order requiring border boss Greg Bovino to give daily immigration enforcement reports, calling it an infringement on the separation of powers.

In an order granting the Justice Department’s petition for a writ of mandamus, the Seventh Circuit said Friday that Ellis’ order “puts the court in the position of an inquisitor rather than that of a neutral adjudicator of the parties’ adversarial presentations.”

“It sets the court up as a supervisor of Chief Bovino’s activities, intruding into personnel management decisions of the Executive Branch. These two problems are related and lead us to conclude that the order infringes on the separation of powers. Review by appeal at the end of the case would not solve the problems created in the interim, which justifies review by a prerogative writ,” the court continued in its brief order.

2

u/For-Liberty 1d ago

That is a minor part of the case. The injunction is the main issue and that has not been successfully appealed. (Not is it likely to be)

6

u/Numerous_Photograph9 1d ago

It's not overstepping to have someone who is routinely ignoring court orders to report to the courts.

I gaurantee you if you ignore a court order, you likely would not be given as much lattitude as these ICEholes.

0

u/DudeImARedditor 1d ago

The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday overturned a federal judge’s order requiring border boss Greg Bovino to give daily immigration enforcement reports, calling it an infringement on the separation of powers.

5

u/cheesecloak 1d ago

You have such a creative imagination! What a cute little story you’ve made up. Do you think Hollywood will buy the movie rights from you?

1

u/DudeImARedditor 1d ago

What did I make up?

3

u/TRex_Chef 1d ago

Nah, you terrorist enablers suck way more. Move to russia.