(NewsNation) — Hundreds of people swept up in immigration raids across the Chicago area could be freed in a matter of days.
The federal government faces a noon CST deadline to release 13 detainees after a judge ruled they were held in violation of a 2022 consent decree that prevents Immigration and Customs Enforcement from making arrests without a warrant.
More than 600 other detainees in the area could be released as early as next week. The Department of Homeland Security must also decide whether any of the 615 people detained without warrants between June and October pose a danger or flight risk.
So far, at least 313 of those detainees have been flagged as low-risk and eligible for release on a $1,500 bond and GPS monitoring, under that same settlement. Federal prosecutor William Weiland said at least 12 of the 615 people in federal custody pose a significant security risk, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“This will allow a lot of people to return to their communities because they never should have been arrested in the first place,” said Michelle Garcia, deputy legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.
Those with a serious criminal history or deemed likely to flee will remain in federal custody.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – NOVEMBER 06: Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino speaks with a Chicago Police officer while searching for undocumented immigrants in a southwest side neighborhood on November 06, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. Federal agents participating in Operation Midway Blitz, engage in daily patrols through Chicago neighborhoods and surrounding suburbs searching for undocumented immigrants. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) 
Demonstrators protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and federal immigration operations outside Federal Plaza in Chicago on June 10, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / GETTY-AFP) 
Demonstrators protest outside an immigration processing center on Sept. 26, 2025, in Broadview, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) 
Kat Abughazaleh, far left, and other protesters surround a federal SUV and try and prevent it from driving into the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Since the so-called “Operation Midway Blitz” launched in September, more than 3,300 people have been arrested in Chicago and the surrounding area, according to government data. Many have already been deported or left on their own, said Keren Zwick, director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center.
“Every passing day, more people are being coerced into giving up their rights. They’re taking voluntary departure without being informed of whether or not they even have a right to a legal remedy in this country,” Zwick told NewsNation.
DHS was ordered to provide status reports on everyone arrested in the Chicago area by Nov. 19.
“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,” DHS officials wrote in a social media post Wednesday. “Now an activist judge is putting the lives of Americans directly at risk by ordering 615 illegal aliens be released into the community.”
While Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino has left Chicago, he said ICE will maintain a presence in the city.
“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen is — we’re going to go even harder on those streets. If he releases those 650, we’re going to apprehend 1650 on the streets of Chicago,” Bovino said on Fox News earlier this week.
Bovino said agents are training in West Virginia and could be sent to cities such as Charlotte, North Carolina, New York City and back to Chicago.
NewsNation’s Jeff Arnold contributed to this report.