A federal judge in Chicago has ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release more than 600 illegal immigrants held at a suburban detention center, blasting the agency for “repeated, material violations” of a court-approved consent decree that limited who could be detained under U.S. immigration law.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings ruled that more than 600 detainees being held at the Broadview ICE center must be released “on bond and into ICE’s Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program” by Nov. 21, citing what he called a “pattern of unlawful arrests and confinement.”
The order stems from Margarito Castañon Nava v. DHS, a class-action lawsuit claiming federal agents unlawfully detained hundreds of migrants who were not subject to mandatory detention or final removal orders, a direct violation of a 2021 Biden-era decree inherited by the Trump administration.
In the ruling, Cummings accused DHS of holding migrants in “unsafe and unsanitary” conditions, saying detainees had been kept in overcrowded buildings “next to overflowing toilets.” The judge further said the department’s recent reversal on detention authority represented a “180-degree change” from previous legal interpretations.
The decision could force the largest single-day release of ICE detainees in Illinois in years, freeing hundreds arrested during “Operation Midway Blitz,” a Trump enforcement sweep that immigration activists claim traumatized communities across the Chicago area.
“Today was a good day as the court ordered the immediate release of 13 people who have been wrongfully arrested and detained by federal immigration officials,” said Michelle Garcia, deputy legal director at the ACLU of Illinois. “More than 600 others may soon walk free as the court enforces our agreement with the federal government — a step toward accountability for years of unlawful arrests.”
But DHS officials sharply condemned the ruling, accusing the court of undermining national security and law enforcement. TRUMP SAYS CHICAGO CRIME HAS FALLEN DRAMATICALLY DESPITE ‘EXTRAORDINARY RESISTANCE’ FROM LOCAL DEMOCRATS
“At every turn, activist judges, sanctuary politicians and violent rioters have actively tried to prevent our law enforcement officers from arresting and removing the worst of the worst,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for Public Affairs at DHS, told Fox News Digital.
“Now an activist judge is putting the lives of Americans directly at risk by ordering 615 illegal aliens be released into the community.”
Cummings ordered DHS to identify detainees considered “high public safety risks” who may remain in custody and to file a compliance report by Nov. 24.
