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  • Appeals court pauses order restricting use of force by immigration agents in Chicago-area crackdown

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    A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily halted an order restricting the use of force by federal immigration agents in the Chicago area, calling it “overbroad” and “too prescriptive.”Related video above: New tension in Chicago after federal agents chased and then crashed into a vehicleBut the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also cautioned against “overreading” its stay and said a quick appeal process could lead to a “more tailored and appropriate” order.Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued a preliminary injunction in response to a lawsuit filed by news outlets and protesters who claimed federal officers used excessive force during an immigration crackdown that has netted more than 3,000 arrests since September across the nation’s third-largest city and its many suburbs.Government attorneys had argued that the order restricted the enforcement of the nation’s laws and could “subvert” the constitutional structure.In issuing a stay Wednesday, the three-judge panel said the government’s arguments were likely to prevail in court.”The preliminary injunction entered by the district court is overbroad,” the two-page ruling said. “In no uncertain terms, the district court’s order enjoins an expansive range of defendants, including the President of the United States, the entire Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, and anyone acting in concert with them.”It added that the order was “too prescriptive” as it specified the types of riot control weapons and other devices in a way that “resembles a federal regulation.”Among other things, Ellis’ order restricted agents from using physical force and chemical agents like tear gas and pepper balls, unless necessary or to prevent an “an immediate threat.” She said the current practices violated the constitutional rights of journalists and protesters.During a lengthy court hearing this month, witnesses gave emotional testimony when describing experiencing tear gas, being shot in the head with pepper balls while praying, and having guns pointed at them.Ellis determined that Trump administration witnesses were “simply not credible,” including Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol commander who led the Chicago area operation before moving on to to North Carolina in recent days.Attorneys for the plaintiffs and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Wednesday’s stay.Bovino, the head of a Border Patrol sector in El Centro, California, has repeatedly defended agents’ use of force. He oversaw about 230 agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the Chicago area starting in September. After North Carolina, federal border agents are expected to be deployed to New Orleans.The immigration operation in the Chicago area has triggered multiple lawsuits, including allegations about inhumane conditions at a federal immigration center. The legal complaint prompted a federal judge and attorneys to visit the longtime U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility outside Chicago last week.

    CHICAGO —

    A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily halted an order restricting the use of force by federal immigration agents in the Chicago area, calling it “overbroad” and “too prescriptive.”

    Related video above: New tension in Chicago after federal agents chased and then crashed into a vehicle

    But the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also cautioned against “overreading” its stay and said a quick appeal process could lead to a “more tailored and appropriate” order.

    Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued a preliminary injunction in response to a lawsuit filed by news outlets and protesters who claimed federal officers used excessive force during an immigration crackdown that has netted more than 3,000 arrests since September across the nation’s third-largest city and its many suburbs.

    Government attorneys had argued that the order restricted the enforcement of the nation’s laws and could “subvert” the constitutional structure.

    In issuing a stay Wednesday, the three-judge panel said the government’s arguments were likely to prevail in court.

    “The preliminary injunction entered by the district court is overbroad,” the two-page ruling said. “In no uncertain terms, the district court’s order enjoins an expansive range of defendants, including the President of the United States, the entire Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, and anyone acting in concert with them.”

    It added that the order was “too prescriptive” as it specified the types of riot control weapons and other devices in a way that “resembles a federal regulation.”

    Among other things, Ellis’ order restricted agents from using physical force and chemical agents like tear gas and pepper balls, unless necessary or to prevent an “an immediate threat.” She said the current practices violated the constitutional rights of journalists and protesters.

    During a lengthy court hearing this month, witnesses gave emotional testimony when describing experiencing tear gas, being shot in the head with pepper balls while praying, and having guns pointed at them.

    Ellis determined that Trump administration witnesses were “simply not credible,” including Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol commander who led the Chicago area operation before moving on to to North Carolina in recent days.

    Attorneys for the plaintiffs and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Wednesday’s stay.

    Bovino, the head of a Border Patrol sector in El Centro, California, has repeatedly defended agents’ use of force. He oversaw about 230 agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the Chicago area starting in September. After North Carolina, federal border agents are expected to be deployed to New Orleans.

    The immigration operation in the Chicago area has triggered multiple lawsuits, including allegations about inhumane conditions at a federal immigration center. The legal complaint prompted a federal judge and attorneys to visit the longtime U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility outside Chicago last week.

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  • DHS plans to deploy 250 border agents to Louisiana in major immigration sweep, AP sources say

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    Around 250 federal border agents are set to descend on New Orleans in the coming weeks for a two-month immigration crackdown dubbed “Swamp Sweep” that aims to arrest roughly 5,000 people across southeast Louisiana and into Mississippi, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press and three people familiar with the operation.The deployment, which is expected to begin in earnest on Dec. 1, marks the latest escalation in a series of rapid-fire immigration crackdowns unfolding nationwide — from Chicago to Los Angeles to Charlotte, North Carolina — as the Trump administration moves aggressively to fulfill the president’s campaign promise of mass deportations.In Louisiana, the operation is unfolding on the home turf of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, a close Trump ally who has moved to align state policy with the White House’s enforcement agenda. But, as seen in other blue cities situated in Republican-led states, increased federal enforcement presence could set up a collision with officials in liberal New Orleans who have long resisted federal sweeps.Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander tapped to run the Louisiana sweep, has become the administration’s go-to architect for large-scale immigration crackdowns — and a magnet for criticism over the tactics used in them. His selection to oversee “Swamp Sweep” signals that the administration views Louisiana as a major enforcement priority for the Trump administration.The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the operation. “For the safety and security of law enforcement we’re not going to telegraph potential operations,” spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.In Chicago, Bovino drew a rare public rebuke from a federal judge who said he misled the court about the threats posed by protesters and deployed tear gas and pepper balls without justification during a chaotic confrontation downtown. His teams also oversaw aggressive arrest operations in Los Angeles and more recently in Charlotte, where Border Patrol officials have touted dozens of arrests across North Carolina this week after a surging immigration crackdown that has included federal agents scouring churches, grocery stores and apartment complexes.Planning documents reviewed by the AP show Border Patrol teams preparing to fan out across neighborhoods and commercial hubs throughout southeast Louisiana, stretching from New Orleans through Jefferson, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes and as far north as Baton Rouge, with additional activity planned in southeastern Mississippi.Agents are expected to arrive in New Orleans on Friday to begin staging equipment and vehicles before the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the people familiar with the operation. They are scheduled to return toward the end of the month, with the full sweep beginning in early December. The people familiar with the matter could not publicly discuss details of the operation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.To support an operation of that scale, federal officials are securing a network of staging sites: A portion of the FBI’s New Orleans field office has been designated as a command post, while a naval base five miles south of the city will store vehicles, equipment and thousands of pounds of “less lethal” munitions like tear gas and pepper balls, the people said. Homeland Security has also asked to use the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans for up to 90 days beginning this weekend, according to documents reviewed by the AP.Once “Swamp Sweep” begins, Louisiana will become a major testing ground for the administration’s expanding deportation strategy, and a focal point in the widening rift between federal authorities intent on carrying out large-scale arrests and city officials who have long resisted them.__Associated Press journalists Elliot Spagat and Mike Balsamo contributed to this report.

    Around 250 federal border agents are set to descend on New Orleans in the coming weeks for a two-month immigration crackdown dubbed “Swamp Sweep” that aims to arrest roughly 5,000 people across southeast Louisiana and into Mississippi, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press and three people familiar with the operation.

    The deployment, which is expected to begin in earnest on Dec. 1, marks the latest escalation in a series of rapid-fire immigration crackdowns unfolding nationwide — from Chicago to Los Angeles to Charlotte, North Carolina — as the Trump administration moves aggressively to fulfill the president’s campaign promise of mass deportations.

    In Louisiana, the operation is unfolding on the home turf of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, a close Trump ally who has moved to align state policy with the White House’s enforcement agenda. But, as seen in other blue cities situated in Republican-led states, increased federal enforcement presence could set up a collision with officials in liberal New Orleans who have long resisted federal sweeps.

    Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander tapped to run the Louisiana sweep, has become the administration’s go-to architect for large-scale immigration crackdowns — and a magnet for criticism over the tactics used in them. His selection to oversee “Swamp Sweep” signals that the administration views Louisiana as a major enforcement priority for the Trump administration.

    The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the operation. “For the safety and security of law enforcement we’re not going to telegraph potential operations,” spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.

    In Chicago, Bovino drew a rare public rebuke from a federal judge who said he misled the court about the threats posed by protesters and deployed tear gas and pepper balls without justification during a chaotic confrontation downtown. His teams also oversaw aggressive arrest operations in Los Angeles and more recently in Charlotte, where Border Patrol officials have touted dozens of arrests across North Carolina this week after a surging immigration crackdown that has included federal agents scouring churches, grocery stores and apartment complexes.

    Planning documents reviewed by the AP show Border Patrol teams preparing to fan out across neighborhoods and commercial hubs throughout southeast Louisiana, stretching from New Orleans through Jefferson, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes and as far north as Baton Rouge, with additional activity planned in southeastern Mississippi.

    Agents are expected to arrive in New Orleans on Friday to begin staging equipment and vehicles before the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the people familiar with the operation. They are scheduled to return toward the end of the month, with the full sweep beginning in early December. The people familiar with the matter could not publicly discuss details of the operation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

    To support an operation of that scale, federal officials are securing a network of staging sites: A portion of the FBI’s New Orleans field office has been designated as a command post, while a naval base five miles south of the city will store vehicles, equipment and thousands of pounds of “less lethal” munitions like tear gas and pepper balls, the people said. Homeland Security has also asked to use the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans for up to 90 days beginning this weekend, according to documents reviewed by the AP.

    Once “Swamp Sweep” begins, Louisiana will become a major testing ground for the administration’s expanding deportation strategy, and a focal point in the widening rift between federal authorities intent on carrying out large-scale arrests and city officials who have long resisted them.

    __

    Associated Press journalists Elliot Spagat and Mike Balsamo contributed to this report.

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