A federal appeals court just slammed the brakes on a Chicago judge’s eyebrow-raising attempt to micromanage Border Patrol operations.
The Daily Caller reported that the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals stepped in to block a district judge’s order that would have forced a top Border Patrol official to report to her courtroom daily about ongoing deportation efforts in Chicago under the Trump administration’s enforcement push.
This saga kicked off with Operation Midway Blitz, a Trump administration initiative launched in September targeting unauthorized migrant criminals across Illinois, particularly in Chicago.
The operation has stirred a hornet’s nest, with local Democrats and critics of the administration’s immigration policies decrying the deportation raids as heavy-handed.
Earlier in October, a coalition of protesters and media outlets filed a lawsuit, alleging federal agents acted aggressively during these sweeps.
Enter U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, an Obama appointee, who on Tuesday dropped a bombshell order demanding Chief Border Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino appear before her in person every weekday at 5:45 p.m. to detail the operations.
Not stopping there, Judge Ellis also mandated that Bovino wear a body camera, undergo training for its use, and that the administration hand over all incident reports related to the raids.
Legal minds are scratching their heads over this one, with some calling the judge’s demands a judicial overreach of historic proportions.
“I’ve been a lawyer for almost 50 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Phillip Turner, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago, told the Associated Press, summing up the shock in legal circles.
But before Bovino could even pack his briefcase for his first court appearance on Wednesday, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals swooped in with an administrative stay.
The court’s one-page ruling temporarily halted the requirement for Bovino to show up in person daily, though it left intact the body camera and training mandates.
“IT IS ORDERED that the government’s request for an administrative stay is GRANTED,” the appeals court declared, pausing the in-person reporting while a broader legal challenge is considered.
While the courtroom drama unfolds, Bovino himself isn’t shying away from the spotlight, taking to the airwaves to defend the operation’s necessity.
“If she wants to meet with me every day, then she is going to see, she is going to have a very good first-hand look at just how bad things really are on the streets of Chicago,” Bovino said in a Fox News interview, throwing down a polite but pointed challenge to the judge’s scrutiny.
