Court blocks the release of hundreds of immigrants arrested in a Chicago-area crackdown
Source: AP
Updated 5:49 AM EST, December 12, 2025
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal appeals court blocked the immediate release of hundreds of immigrants detained during a Chicago area immigration crackdown in a split decision Thursday that also allowed the extension of a consent decree outlining how federal immigration agents can make warrantless arrests.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments last week about the 2022 agreement governing how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can arrest immigrants besides those being specifically targeted in an operation. The consent decree has been in the spotlight amid the Trump administration’s Chicago-area immigration crackdown that’s led to more than 4,000 arrests.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, who found the government violated the agreement, ordered the release of more than 600 immigrants on bond, which the appeals court paused. Roughly 450 remain in custody, attorneys say.
In the 2-1 opinion, the appeals court said Cummings overstepped his authority on the blanket release of the detainees without assessing each case individually. The consent decree “carefully maps out what the district judge can or cannot order” to balance enforcement and public safety, according to the opinion. But the ruling also said the Trump administration wrongly categorized all immigrant arrestees as subject to mandatory detention.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/chicago-immigration-detainee-release-blocked-982fefe61fb7e031e4390798e42c91ff
This was done by 2 Biden judges and a 45 judge. The dissent was the 45 judge.
Link to National Immigrant Justice Center PRESS RELEASE - Seventh Circuit Keeps Castanon Nava Consent Decree In Place But Says Individual Assessments Needed Before People Detained Without Warrants Can Be Released
Link to RULING (PDF) - https://immigrantjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Nava-v-DHS-7th-Cir-ruling_12-11-2025.pdf
REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143564104
The press release from this Immigrant Rights group explains what was going on here. This appeal came after the order of the immediate release of hundreds of immigrants swept up in the Chicago "Midway Blitz" nonsense, without warrants, and not given bail/bond options for release pending adjudication. The press release indicates the following (in part) -
The Seventh Circuit concluded that the Trump administration is not likely to succeed on their arguments challenging the underlying extension of the consent decree. The court also preliminarily concluded that DHS’s primary legal argument “poses no obstacle to the release of those detainees who faced warrantless arrests.”
The court did, however, conclude that it was likely that Judge Cummings lacked the authority to order interim use of alternatives to detention for people potentially subject to unlawful arrest. On this issue, the court granted DHS’s stay, holding that class members must remain detained only until individualized assessments are completed regarding whether each class member was arrested in violation of the decree.
The court also concluded that DHS was not likely to succeed in its argument that all people who entered the United States without being inspected at a port of entry are subject to “mandatory” detention. Therefore, the court ruled, DHS’s position cannot be a barrier to release of individuals whose arrests were unlawful. This is the first federal Circuit Court of Appeals decision to address DHS’s unlawful interpretation of its detention authority, which has been rejected by close to 300 different federal district courts since the administration implemented it in September. The harmful policy, which has denied nearly everyone in ICE detention the opportunity to be released on bond or other conditions, has been central to the administration’s strategy to coerce people to give up their rights and accept “voluntary departure” from the United States.
(snip)
= new reply since forum marked as read
Baby Jesus wept.