A federal judge in Chicago has ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release hundreds of people from detention centers, ruling that their arrests likely violated constitutional protections and a 2022 consent decree that limits warrantless immigration arrests in the Midwest.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings issued multiple orders Wednesday that could lead to the release of more than 600 individuals detained during Operation Midway Blitz.
The court ordered ICE to fully release 13 people by Friday, November 15, who the administration has conceded were unlawfully arrested in violation of the Castañon Nava consent decree. These individuals will be released without bond from detention facilities in Texas, Missouri, and other states.
An additional 615 people detained by ICE agents between June 11 and October 7 must be placed into alternatives to detention programs—such as electronic monitoring—by November 21, with bond set at $1,500 while their immigration cases proceed. The judge also ordered ICE to stay deportation and voluntary departure proceedings for these individuals pending their release.
Judge Cummings further mandated that the Department of Homeland Security provide a complete list by November 19 of all arrests made by ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents in the Chicago area from June 11 through the present.
Initial documentation suggests that as many as 1,100 people out of 1,852 arrested in the Chicago area prior to October 7 may have been deported or agreed to voluntary departure to avoid prolonged detention in facilities located throughout the country. This figure does not include anyone arrested after October 7 or those detained by Border Patrol agents acting on behalf of ICE.
Mark Fleming, associate director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center, said his organization believes at least 1,100 of approximately 3,000 arrested individuals voluntarily left the country, effectively “giving up” on fighting their cases.
The 2022 Castañon Nava consent decree stemmed from a class-action lawsuit filed by the National Immigrant Justice Center and the ACLU of Illinois on behalf of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Organized Communities Against Deportations, and individual plaintiffs. The lawsuit challenged ICE’s conduct during immigration sweeps in May 2018, when agents conducted warrantless arrests and pretextual traffic stops to forcibly fingerprint and arrest dozens of Hispanic residents in southwest Chicago neighborhoods and northern Illinois suburbs.
The consent decree, originally set to expire in May 2025, prohibits ICE from making warrantless arrests in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Kentucky, and Missouri unless agents have probable cause to believe someone is in the United States unlawfully and poses a flight risk. In October, Judge Cummings extended the decree until February 2, 2026, after finding that ICE had violated it repeatedly and that DHS had improperly told field offices over the summer that the consent decree had been canceled when it had not.
Operation Midway Blitz began in September 2025 as a multi-agency immigration enforcement operation targeting what DHS described as “criminal illegal aliens” in Illinois. The operation deployed more than 200 Border Patrol agents to Chicago.
The operation has included late-night raids using Black Hawk helicopters, the use of tear gas in residential neighborhoods despite court orders prohibiting such measures, and multiple incidents where U.S. citizens were detained.
In October, President Trump deployed approximately 300 National Guard troops to Chicago over the objections of Governor J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson, though a federal judge later temporarily blocked the deployment as likely unconstitutional. Sources told CBS News that Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino and many agents under his command could depart Chicago as early as this week.
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin criticized the ruling, stating it puts Americans’ lives at risk.
Government attorneys indicated at the hearing that compiling the necessary documentation would pose “a significant challenge” and did not rule out appealing the judge’s decision. They noted that at least 12 of the 615 individuals are classified as high flight risks. Judge Cummings stated he would maintain detention for high-risk individuals and that anyone released who violates program conditions would be returned to custody.
