Court says Border Patrol official won't have to brief judge on Chicago-area immigration sweeps

CHICAGO (AP) — An appeals court ruled in favor of the Trump administration Friday and stopped a judge from trying to get daily updates from a Border Patrol official about the government's immigration crackdown in the Chicago area.

The court said the order from U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis put her "in position of an inquisitor rather than that of a neutral adjudicator” and would have turned her into a supervisor of Greg Bovino, a violation of the separation of powers.

Ellis, concerned about allegations of excessive force and the use of tear gas against protesters, wanted daily updates from Bovino, starting Wednesday. But the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals intervened that day and suspended the order before further freezing it Friday.

Meanwhile, Illinois advocates in a different case Friday sued federal authorities for what they described as “inhumane” conditions at a Chicago-area immigration facility.

Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and the MacArthur Justice Center say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have denied people being held at the Broadview facility private calls with attorneys and have blocked members of Congress, faith leaders and journalists from entering the building, creating a “black box” they say has allowed authorities to act “with impunity.”

Agents have also allegedly coerced people held at the processing center to sign paperwork they don't understand, leading them to unknowingly relinquish their rights and face deportation, according to the lawsuit.

Alexa Van Brunt, director of the MacArthur Justice Center’s Illinois office and lead attorney for the lawsuit, said community members are “being kidnapped off the streets, packed in hold cells, denied food, medical care, and basic necessities, and forced to sign away their legal rights.”

“Everyone, no matter their legal status, has the right to access counsel and to not be subject to horrific and inhumane conditions,” she said.

Homeland Security Department Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied the assertions and said such allegations have contributed to an increase in death threats against immigration officers. She said people are held only briefly before being transferred to detention facilities.

“Any claims there are subprime conditions at the Broadview ICE facility are false. All detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, water, and have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the statement said. “No one is denied access to proper medical care. There is a privacy wall around the toilet for detainees.”

Attorneys accuse ICE, DHS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection of violating detainees' constitutional rights to due process and access to a lawyer and have asked the court to force the agencies to improve the facility's conditions.

The 76-page lawsuit paints a bleak picture of the facility, which attorneys say is “extremely cramped” and “smells strongly of feces, urine, and body odor,” while insects were found in the sinks and clogged toilets led to urine on the floor. One man described people lying on top of each other and in the bathroom, unable to find space to sleep.

“They treated us like animals, or worse than animals, because no one treats their pets like that,” one woman said in the lawsuit.

Several people said they were detained at the processing center for durations ranging from a couple days to three weeks.

Advocates have for months raised concerns about conditions at the facility, which has drawn scrutiny from members of Congress, political candidates and activist groups. Lawyers and relatives of people held there have called it a de facto detention center, saying up to 200 people have been held at a time without access to legal counsel.

The Broadview center has also drawn demonstrations, which have led to the arrests of numerous protesters. The protests are at the center of a separate lawsuit from a coalition of news outlets and protesters who claim federal agents violated their First Amendment rights by repeatedly using tear gas and other weapons on them.

Ellis sided with the coalition earlier this month, requiring federal agents in the Chicago area to wear badges and banning them from using certain riot control techniques against peaceful protesters and journalists. Later, Ellis also required body cameras for agents who have them after raising concerns about her initial order not being followed.

This story has been updated to remove incorrect references to specific constitutional protections.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents arrive to escort U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Gregory Bovino from federal court in Chicago, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Protesters gather outside an ICE processing facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Protesters gather outside an ICE processing facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Police guard the designated protest area as protesters gather outside an ICE processing facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

A protester holds a sign outside an ICE processing facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Protesters gather outside an ICE processing facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Protesters gather outside an ICE processing facility in Broadview, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal officers in the Minneapolis-area participating in its largest recent U.S. immigration enforcement operation can’t detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who aren't obstructing authorities, including when these people are observing the agents, a judge in Minnesota ruled Friday.

U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez's ruling addresses a case filed in December on behalf of six Minnesota activists. The six are among the thousands who have been observing the activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers enforcing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area since last month.

Federal agents and demonstrators have repeatedly clashed since the crackdown began. The confrontations escalated after an immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head on Jan. 7 as she drove away from a scene in Minneapolis, an incident that was captured on video from several angles. Agents have arrested or briefly detained many people in the Twin Cities.

The activists in the case are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, which says government officers are violating the constitutional rights of Twin Cities residents.

Government attorneys argued that the officers have been acting within their legal authority to enforce immigration laws and protect themselves. They said Homeland Security officers have been subject to violence across the country and in Minnesota, and that they have responded lawfully and appropriately.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the ACLU didn't immediately respond to requests for comment Friday night.

The ruling prohibits the officers from detaining drivers and passengers in vehicles when there is no reasonable suspicion they are obstructing or interfering with the officers.

Safely following agents “at an appropriate distance does not, by itself, create reasonable suspicion to justify a vehicle stop,” the ruling said.

Menendez said the agents would not be allowed to arrest people without probable cause or reasonable suspicion the person has committed a crime or was obstructing or interfering with the activities of officers.

Menendez is also presiding over a lawsuit filed Monday by the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul seeking to suspend the enforcement crackdown, and some of the legal issues are similar. She declined at a hearing Wednesday to grant the state’s request for an immediate temporary restraining order in that case.

“What we need most of all right now is a pause. The temperature needs to be lowered,” state Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter told her.

Menendez said the issues raised by the state and cities in that case are “enormously important.” But she said it raises high-level constitutional and other legal issues, and for some of those issues there are few on-point precedents. So she ordered both sides to file more briefs next week.

McAvoy reported from Honolulu. Associated Press writer Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.

An FBI officer works the scene during operations on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)