A federal judge in Chicago is set to grill a pair of immigration officials Monday about law enforcement tactics employed during the Trump administration’s ongoing “Operation Midway Blitz” that allegedly are in violation of a restraining order she issued earlier this month.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Ellis said last week she was “profoundly concerned” that immigration agents are violating her orders restricting the use of tear gas on media and protesters, and told the Department of Justice to make officials with knowledge of the operation to appear before her and answer questions.
Ellis said she was particularly concerned about recent clashes in Albany Park and on Chicago’s East Side, where agents used a controversial and potentially dangerous maneuver to disable a fleeing vehicle, then tear-gassed people during a tense gathering at the scene. A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman alleged protesters were throwing rocks at officers.
“I live in Chicago if folks haven’t noticed,” Ellis said in court Thursday. “And I’m not blind, right? … I’m getting images and seeing images on the news, in the paper, reading reports where I’m having concerns about my order being followed.”
On Friday, the judge said she was also displeased by the lack of response from the government when she asked them to come up with suggested language to modify her restraining order when it came to body-worn cameras.
“Nothing came in,” Ellis said. “Let me be clear: This was not a suggestion, it was not a hint, it wasn’t a topic of conversation. It was an order.”
She later modified the restraining order to say agents “currently equipped and trained with body-worn cameras” must have them turned on when interacting with the public on immigration-enforcement missions.
In addition to questions about body cameras and recent clashes, Ellis is also expected to address how the Department of Homeland Security has disseminated her restraining order throughout the various agencies involved in Midway Blitz and made sure that it was read and is being followed.
Ellis had initially ordered ICE Field Director Russell Hott to court, but attorneys for the government later said he’s leaving his position in Chicago and returning to Washington D.C..
Instead, the government will produce Border Protection Deputy Incident Commander Kyle Harvick and ICE Deputy Field Director Shawn Byers.
“As long as I get the answers that I want,” Ellis said Friday. “I don’t want anyone to get up there and say, ‘I don’t know,’ or ‘Not my responsibility,’” she said.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
