Federal judge orders 615 people arrested in Illinois immigration crackdown granted bond by Nov. 21

On Nov. 13, 2025, U.S. District Judge JCJeffrey Cummings ordered the Trump administration to release 615 people from immigration detention by noon on Nov. 21. The 615 were arrested by ICE and CBP agents in the Chicago area between June 11 and Oct. 7 as part of 'Operation Midway Blitz' — the administration's immigration surge in the Chicago region — and the judge found they did not have mandatory detention orders and did not pose significant public safety threats.

The order rested on the 2022 Castañon Nava consent decree, a federal settlement agreement between DHS and immigrant rights groups that bars agents in 🌽Illinois, 🏎️Indiana, 🧀Wisconsin, 🌻Kansas, 🐴Kentucky, and 🌉Missouri from making warrantless immigration arrests unless they have pre-determined probable cause to believe a person is in the country illegally and poses a flight risk. The National Immigrant Justice Center and ACLU argued that federal agents had routinely used blank warrants — filling them out only after detaining people — and had arrested people based on race and employment location rather than individualized suspicion.

The numbers behind the ruling are striking: NIJC attorneys said more than 3,000 people had been arrested in the Chicago area since June. Of those, an estimated 1,100 had already been deported or signed voluntary departure orders while in custody — meaning they 'gave up' fighting their cases rather than remain in detention. The 615 covered by the Nov. 13 order were those still in custody who had no mandatory detention trigger and no final removal order.

Judge Cummings had previously ruled in October that federal agents violated the consent decree and extended the decree until February 2026. In his November opinion he read aloud some of the specific arrest circumstances to illustrate the problem: seven people arrested at immigration court hearings or appointments, and 11 arrested in ordinary public places including a Dunkin' Donuts drive-through. 'It is highly unlikely any of them are criminal gang members, drug traffickers or assorted ne'er-do-wells who fall under the category of what ICE has called the worst of the worst,' Cummings said from the bench.

Cummings ordered the 13 people whose arrests the DOJ itself acknowledged violated the decree to be released immediately and unconditionally. For the broader 615, he set a $1,500 bond and enrollment in ICE's Alternatives to Detention program — which can include electronic ankle monitoring — as conditions of release. He also ordered ICE to halt deportation proceedings for the 615 pending their release.

DHS responded with characteristic defiance. Assistant Secretary TMTricia McLaughlin called Cummings an 'ACTIVIST JUDGE' in a statement and said the order was 'putting the lives of Americans directly at risk by ordering 615 illegal aliens be released into the community.'

The Trump administration filed an appeal the next day and asked the court to stay the order while the appeal was heard. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals eventually stayed the release order in December, blocking most of the 615 from being freed.

A practical problem immediately complicated the order's implementation: many of the 615 had been transferred to detention facilities in other states — sometimes hundreds of miles from Chicago — with no notice to their attorneys. NIJC's MFMark Fleming told reporters there was 'a scramble to find people' across the country. He said attorneys had received 'absolutely no notice' of any releases so far and were 'begging the government just give us some notice' to coordinate transportation.

The consent decree at the center of the case was originally set to expire in May 2025, but Judge Cummings extended it through February 2026 specifically because of evidence that DHS had violated it. The decree's geographic reach — covering six Midwestern states, not just 🌽Illinois — meant the ruling had implications for Operation Midway Blitz arrests well beyond the Chicago city limits.