Appeals Court Blocks Order Requiring Top Border Patrol Official to Appear in Court Every Day

The appeals court stated that Ellis’s order placed the court ‘in the position of an inquisitor’ and a supervisor of Bovino’s work.

U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino attends a press conference in Los Angeles on June 12, 2025. Aude Guerrucci/Reuters

A U.S. appeals court blocked an order requiring Customs and Border Protection commander-at-large Gregory Bovino to give a federal judge a daily briefing on federal immigration enforcement efforts in Chicago.

The Oct. 31 decision stemmed from an Oct. 28 order by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, which required Bovino to appear in court at 5:45 p.m. every weekday to report on the enforcement of immigration laws by federal agents in Chicago.