Judge Orders DHS to Release Hundreds of ICE Detainees in Chicago

The judge said that 615 detained illegal immigrants were not subject to mandatory detention and did not have final removal orders.

People detained earlier in the day are taken to a parking lot before being transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Chicago, Ill., on Oct. 31, 2025. Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images

A federal judge ruled Nov. 13 that hundreds of illegal immigrants held by ICE in Illinois may be released on bond and ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assess whether they pose any safety risk to the public.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings of the Northern District of Illinois issued the ruling in response to a lawsuit filed by the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois on behalf of people arrested during “Operation Midway Blitz,” a federal immigration enforcement operation targeting illegal immigrants.