Biden-Appointed Judge Frees Hundreds Of Migrants Rounded Up In Illinois Operation

A federal judge has ordered the release of more than 600 individuals detained during the Trump administration’s federal immigration operation across Illinois, according to news coverage.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, ruled in favor of attorneys from the National Immigration Justice Center and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who had claimed in a lawsuit that over 3,000 people were arrested between June and October of this year as part of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” CNN reported. ICE’s immigration operation targeted illegal migrants shielded by sanctuary policies across Illinois.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Of those detainees, 615 must now be granted bond by Nov. 21 at noon, according to the outlet.

“They’re all being awarded bond for 615, but how is that process going to happen?” Mark Fleming, an attorney with the National Immigrant Justice Center, said during a news conference on Wednesday, CNN reported.

Fleming also told CNN that the individuals set to be released “are probably all over the country.”

Moreover, Cummings ruled in October that ICE agents had violated a previously agreed-upon consent decree over warrantless arrests in the Chicago area, which is known as the 2022 Castañon Nava settlement, WLS reported on Oct. 8.

The Trump administration has notably been spearheading an effort to crack down on illegal immigration and violent crime in major blue cities across the U.S., including Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The DHS reported on Sept. 22 that there has been a 1000% increase in assaults against ICE agents.

Additionally, ICE agents and Oklahoma Highway Patrol made sweeping arrests of illegal migrant truck drivers as part of a two-day operation in Oklahoma, the DCNF previously reported.

Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson unveiled a new executive order in September that aims to bolster protest protections in Chicago. He also signed an EO in October establishing “ICE-Free Zones.”