CHICAGO (NewsNation) — The Chicago judge who issued a temporary restraining order in October over the use of non-lethal force by federal immigration officers and agents against journalists, protesters and clergy will consider arguments Wednesday whether that order should be made permanent.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said Tuesday she plans to rule on a request for a preliminary injunction within 14 days of a hearing that began Wednesday in a Chicago federal court. On Tuesday, Ellis asked attorneys representing the federal government and a group of journalism organizations, media outlets, protesters and clergy to agree to extend the TRO issued on Oct. 9 until Nov. 19.
However, attorneys representing the Department of Justice told Ellis that they do not expect their bosses to approve such an extension request, which set the stage for a long day of court proceedings on Wednesday.
Attorneys representing the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit that names Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino and others as defendants maintain that federal officers and agents have violated the restraining order, which prevents them from using excessive force on journalists, protesters and clergy unless they face aggression or abuse.
Complaints about the treatment of Chicago residents by federal officers and agents have continued since Ellis issued the restraining order. Videos showing agents, including Bovino, deploying tear gas and other chemical agents have gone viral on social media.
In filing the motion for the preliminary injunction, attorneys allege that without an injunction, federal officers and agents “will continue to act as if they can use weapons or war to commit shocking acts against citizens — protesters, press, clergy, bystanders, pregnant women, children — with impunity.”
Among the 10 witnesses scheduled to testify Wednesday included a Catholic priest who has prayed weekly for 19 years at the Broadview ICE processing center which has been the site on multiple clashes between protesters and federal agents and the executive director of the Chicago News Guild, which includes reporters from the city’s two major newspapers, both of which have covered the federal operation since it began.
She described the amount of force being used by federal agents as “quite unusual”, which has been directed at 15 or more union members, she testified. Video of one encounter between protesters and federal officers was played in court, which included one protester referring to federal officers as “storm troopers.”
Rev. David Black, a Chicago Presbyterian minister who was shot with pepper balls in September at the Broadview ICE facility, was also among those to testify. Video of Black being hit by pepper balls multiple times including in the head, went viral.
Black testified that he has returned to Broadview since the incident, citing Scripture that instructs him not to be afraid. Black said he now carries a GPS tracker and that his church has put a safety plan in place.
“I feel like I was targeted for my ministry, not in spite of it,” Black testified.
However, attorneys representing the Department of Justice argued that the case is not about whether residents like President Donald Trump’s immigration policy. They acknowledged that the constitutional right to express their views is not being debated and told Ellis that federal officers and agents have “honored and protected” Chicago residents’ right to express their views.
But, they said, “What these folks are doing is not (free) speech”, but instead, protesters are impeding federal immigration enforcement operations and threatening to kill federal law enforcement officers.
“This case addresses to what extent does the freedom of speech protect people throwing rocks, bottles, trespassing, pinning down law enforcement, slashing tires, wielding weapons,” DOJ attorney Sarmad Khojasteh told Ellis.
Bovino has remained at the center of the controversial “Operation Midway Blitz” as the Border Patrol commander-at-large. Bovino, who also saw the federal immigration enforcement operation in Los Angeles, was initially ordered to meet with Ellis daily to review DHS operations in Chicago. However, an Illinois appellate court overturned Ellis’ ruling, saying that it would interfere with Bovino’s ability to lead the ongoing federal effort in Chicago.
Nearly 4,000 arrests have been made during Operation Midway Blitz, officials say.
Bovino also ordered that Bovino begin wearing and using a body-worn camera, which the 30-year Border Patrol veteran said last week that he had not been issued or trained on before the judge’s order. Bovino told NewsNation last week that he welcomed the opportunity to wear a camera and that “people would be shocked” at what they saw on the camera footage.
Bovino was not among those who testified in court on Wednesday, but the plaintiffs’ attorneys are expected to introduce testimony from the Border Patrol commander from a deposition, which took place over two days in the past week.
In a portion of the videotaped deposition shown in court on Wednesday, Bovino said that the use of force by federal agents and officers during “Operation Midway Blitz” has been “more than exemplary” and that he he believes agents have used the least amount of force possible.
In a video that appeared to show Bovino tackling a protester, the Border Patrol commander disputed that he had tackled the man. Asked what he was doing, Bovino testified that he was “imploring him to comply with leaving the area.”
Bovino testified that he has not seen federal agents use force against protesters, but has seen that involving what DOJ attorneys described as “assaultive” individuals. He described those people as people who perpetrate violence or threats, slash tires or attempt to remove the masks from or hit federal agents and officers.
Bovino also testified that his mission is to follow Noem’s instructions to “go hard” at people who advocate for violence against himself and his fellow agents. Bovino told NewsNation this week that death threats made against him have increased in recent weeks.
NewsNation gets exclusive look at Border Patrol enforcement operation
On Tuesday, Bovino was part of an immigration enforcement operation at suburban Home Depot stores, where three individuals were taken into custody. NewsNation got an exclusive look at the operation in which a total of seven people were apprehended.
DHS officials said that all seven people arrested are in the United States illegally and that at least three of those detained had previously been ordered to leave the country.
Like in other Chicago encounters between federal officers and agents and targeted immigrants, protesters surrounded federal vehicles. Chicago neighborhood residents and those opposed to the federal presence have alerted neighbors and others of officers’ presence by blowing whistles, which they did on Tuesday. Agents gave protesters warnings about not interfering with the operation and were able to defuse the situation without using chemical agents like tear gas.
Tactics of federal agents and officers have remained at the center of the ongoing federal court hearings with attorneys representing journalists, protesters and clergy arguing that federal officers and agents have violated the temporary restraining order.
Bovino disagrees, however, telling NewsNation that his agents have continued to act legally, ethically and morally and have continued to operate within the boundaries of the judge’s order. Opponents of the federal enforcement have accused Border Patrol agents and ICE officers of racially profiling those being detained and taken into federal custody.
Noem said at a news conference last week in Indiana that no U.S. citizens have been detained or arrested during the nearly two-month Chicago operation. However, other officials, Bovino included, have said that U.S. citizens have been detained and taken into custody.
But Bovino pushes back against allegations that federal officers and agents are taking people into custody based on their race, calling those characterizations “patently false.”
Border Patrol agents carried out an enforcement at a rideshare lot at O’Hare International Airport, where Bovino said that people from more than 30 countries have been arrested during the ongoing Chicago operation.
“When I walk up to a car, I don’t know who’s in the car. I know nothing about their race, color, creed, religion, sex, or anything else,” Bovino said, adding he and federal agents are focused on finding workers who are doing so while living in the United States illegally.