By Diana Novak Jones
CHICAGO (Reuters) -A U.S. court on Friday threw out a Chicago judge’s order directing a top U.S. border official to report to her daily on his agents’ activity as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the city.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis went too far in directing U.S. Customs and Border Protection commander-at-large Gregory Bovino to come to her courtroom every weekday evening to answer questions about his agents’ interactions with protesters, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in response to a government challenge to the order.
The court found in a brief order that Ellis had improperly assumed the role of an “inquisitor” and supervisor of Bovino’s work.
Bovino had not yet made an appearance before the judge as required by her order, because the appeals court put it on pause hours before he was slated to do so.
CHICAGO A FOCUS OF TRUMP IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT
President Donald Trump, a Republican, has made Chicago, the third-largest U.S. city, a focus of his aggressive immigration enforcement during the past two months. Under Bovino’s leadership in “Operation Midway Blitz,” federal agents have used tear gas in residential areas and forcibly subdued protesters while attempting to arrest people suspected of being in the country illegally, drawing criticism and legal scrutiny.
Ellis is presiding over a lawsuit filed by protesters, journalists and clergy alleging they were deliberately targeted and brutalized during demonstrations and challenging the legality of the tactics used by officials. On October 9, she entered a temporary restraining order requiring federal immigration officials to give warnings before using tear gas and other anti-riot weapons to control crowds.
The order also requires immigration agents to wear clear identification and to turn on their body-worn cameras, if they have them.
Both the judge and the plaintiffs have flagged numerous instances in which they said it appeared federal immigration officials were not adhering to the order, including one incident on October 23 in which Bovino was filmed throwing a tear gas canister, apparently without warning protesters.
At the end of a highly unusual hearing on Tuesday, when she read to Bovino from her order, Ellis issued the extraordinary directive requiring him to appear each day at 5:45 p.m. in her court.
Ellis has also ordered the government to turn over all reports of federal agents’ use of force since the start of the operation in Chicago, as well as the corresponding body camera footage. The government has identified 57 of those reports, it said in a court filing.
(Reporting by Diana Novak JonesEditing by Rod Nickel)
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