“The court’s decision recognizes the scope and gravity of the constitutional violations the federal immigration enforcement operations have wrought on Chicagoans, both citizens and immigrants alike.”
-NIJC Associate Director of Litigation Mark Fleming, who is co-counsel in this case In September, the litigation team raised 35 additional consent decree violations with the court and flagged for the court that there are likely hundreds more potential violations. These include people who were grabbed by federal agents while walking in their neighborhoods or in public parks. People were snatched from Home Depot parking lots; pulled from their cars during traffic stops; taken away from their minor children; and woken in the early hours of the morning by federal agents, using explosive devices to break into their homes. It also includes at least three U.S. citizens, as well as other people who had valid tourist visas and other legal status. With a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision weakening protections for people who are unlawfully arrested due to racial profiling, Judge Cummings emphasized the importance of requiring officers to have warrants and probable cause for arresting someone: “Citizens, non-citizens with legal status, and foreign nationals are interwoven throughout ICE’s Chicago Area of Responsibility and American society in general. Citizens and noncitizens with legal status who share commonalities (such as race/ethnicity, a preference for speaking Spanish, or employment in certain occupations or locations) with — or mere physical proximity to — Latino foreign nationals may now find themselves more likely to be subjected to ICE questioning for sometimes lengthy periods of detention, and, potentially, warrantless arrests during immigration enforcement operations.” Upholding laws that require officers to have probable cause to arrest someone “will help protect citizens and other persons with legal status who face questioning by ICE officers against being subjected to prolonged detentions and warrantless, collateral arrests.” In addition to enforcing the Nava consent decree, NIJC also went to court this month with the American Immigration Council to force ICE to abide by a 2021 court order that prohibited ICE from sending unaccompanied immigration children to detention centers when they turn 18. Our team also continues to file habeas petitions to get people out of the growing network of Midwest county jails and prisons where people are being held after they are abducted by ICE. We successfully secured some releases and have numerous other cases pending. Of note, one case resulted in the release of a mom and two children who were detained at Millennium Park. Because the Trump administration has eliminated access to bond and most other legal avenues to free people from ICE detention, it is essential that we continue to use all of the legal pathways that remain available to stop people from being lost in the system and rapidly deported. In most cases, it is everyday community members who have taken the first critical step to this defense: recording unlawful arrests and calling ICIRR’s Family Support Network hotline (855-435-7693) to connect people with legal counsel. Chicago is showing the country that it takes all of us working together to defend human rights and due process. We are proud to be part of this community and grateful to everyone who is taking action to support our immigrant neighbors and each other.
-Keren Zwick
Director of Litigation, National Immigrant Justice Center | 
