By rssfeeds-admin The ruling came down in a hearing Monday at the Dirksen Federal Building during which two lower-level federal officials had a hard time answering questions on the stand amid claims that protesters are being wrongfully targeted during Operation Midway Blitz.
At one point during Monday’s hearing, there even appeared to be some confusion over who was running the operation.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis is now calling on three top leaders of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to sit for a deposition: Bovino, former interim ICE Chicago Field Office Director Russell Hott and CBP Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Daniel Parra.
It’s not clear when they could take the stand to testify.
However, Ellis said the questions in those depositions will not be about the Trump administration’s policies or goals of Operation Midway Blitz. Rather, they’ll be limited to what’s happening on the ground in Chicago and whether people exercising their rights to protest or express their views are being specifically targeted, and whether use of force is appropriate.
“I don’t think it matters what the administration’s objective is,” Ellis said. “This lawsuit is about how our ICE and CBP officers are enforcing the laws. It is not all relevant whether the administration is seeking to enforce the immigration laws in Chicago versus Austin, Texas.”
The judge also ordered the government to preserve all video evidence of federal agents deploying tear gas or other chemical agents.
Monday’s testimony
For several hours Monday, Kyle Harvick, a Customs and Border Patrol Incident Commander who’s been with the agency for 25 years, and Shawn Byers, ICE Deputy Director, took questions from Ellis about use of force, body-worn cameras and whether an order requiring visible identification by agents and officers was being followed.
Ellis last week ordered Hott to appear in court Monday to explain the actions of immigration enforcement agents, particularly to tell her why she was still seeing tear gas deployed on protesters and reading reports of no advance warnings given after she had issued an order against such methods.
The judge said she was “profoundly concerned” officers are not following her order.
But Hott abruptly left his post in Chicago to return to his previous role on the East Coast, and it was unclear until early Monday morning which federal official or officials would be in court.
In a statement to WGN, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said:
“Russell Hott is the permanent Field Office Director for the Washington, D.C., area of responsibility, not Chicago. He served in Chicago as interim FOD, and this is a planned return to his permanent office in D.C.”
According to the statement, Samuel Olson, normally stationed at the ICE field office in Minnesota, will now serve as interim leader in Chicago. But he did not appear in court Monday, either.
Court documents show the Department of Justice instead offered to make Harvick and Byers available to Ellis. The documents also state that DHS believes CBP is primarily involved in the incidents at issue, not ICE.
But after the lower-level officials sent to testify Monday answered “I don’t know” and “I haven’t read the reports” several times, and were even confused about who’s running the operation, Ellis appeared unsatisfied.
Clash on Southeast Side
The action from the courts was prompted by recent clashes between protesters and federal agents, which have become increasingly common in Chicagoland.
Harvick’s testimony Monday centered largely on last week’s clash on Chicago’s Southeast Side and whether agents were justified in deploying tear gas. That came after Ellis issued a temporary restraining order banning federal agents from using tear gas on protesters and journalists who pose no threat.
The judge expressed concerns about possible violations of her order during the incident on the Southeast Side.
Agents used a PIT maneuver to stop a vehicle in a residential neighborhood and arrested two people in the SUV, who they say are undocumented Venezuelans and allegedly rammed the agents’ vehicle first. The stop sparked a tense standoff.
WGN-TV cameras captured what appears to be an egg thrown at agents, who responded by deploying tear gas into the crowd. A DHS official claimed protesters were throwing rocks.
In response, Ellis modified her temporary restraining order, requiring all agents involved in Operation Midway Blitz to wear body cameras and ensure they are turned on. A Justice Department lawyer, however, said not all agents are equipped with body cameras.
In court Monday, Ellis asked Harvick how CBP agents’ responsibilities compare with ICE agents’ responsibilities.
“We were tasked by the Secretary (DHS Secretary Kristi Noem) to come to this area to see if there’s any illegal immigration happening, persons here illegally, and conduct enforcement under Title 8,” Harvick replied.
Ellis also asked if her temporary restraining order governing conduct toward peaceful protesters and its subsequent modifications, including the requirement to wear body cameras, have been communicated to CBP officers.
“Yes, ma’am,” Harvick replied. “For Operation Midway Blitz, we are assigning every Border Patrol agent a body-worn camera. … Every agent now has a body-worn camera.”
Harvick said CBP has 201 officers and command staff operating in the Chicago area right now, with a peak of 232 officers a week or two ago.
Ellis also inquired about the use of tear gas in Albany Park on Oct. 12. Harvick said it was an enforcement action after witnesses joined arms.
“The situation gets more and more dangerous the longer we are there,” he said. “That’s a safety concern, not just for my agents, but also for the detainee and public.”
According to Harvick, in that incident a dispersal order was given before tear gas was deployed.
“Whose decision is it to use non-lethal force?” Ellis asked.
“It can be any agent … based on objective reasonableness coming from the totality of the circumstances,” Harvick responded.
Ellis then turned to the incident last week on the Southeast Side that led to a standoff with the community.
Harvick said he didn’t review body-cam footage or reports about the incident and only spoke to a supervisor who had arrived at the scene toward the end of the incident.
“Some of those individuals started throwing objects,” Harvick said. “I heard eggs, bricks and metal objects, and an officer was struck in the head by an egg. The longer you’re on the scene, the more people come.”
Broadview clashes
Byers’ testimony Monday largely focused on violent clashes outside the ICE processing facility in west suburban Broadview.
Ellis asked Byers about rubber bullets and tear gas being used against a pastor, protesters and members of the press. Byers testified that he was told warnings were given, but he also admitted he didn’t read the reports.
Byers also said there’s no specific policy on how ICE treats members of the press and said that if they stay in designated areas, there should be no issue.
When it comes to clergy and religious leaders, however, Byers testified that they’re treated like normal protesters and said if they don’t follow orders, they’re placing themselves at risk.
Both officials testified Monday that no federal agents have been disciplined for inappropriate or excessive force stemming from incidents in the area.
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