Court blocks the release of hundreds of immigrants arrested in a Chicago-area crackdown

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CHICAGO (AP) — A federal appeals court blocked the immediate release of hundreds of immigrants detained during a Chicago area immigration crackdown in a split decision Thursday that also allowed the extension of a consent decree outlining how federal immigration agents can make warrantless arrests.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments last week about the 2022 agreement governing how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can arrest immigrants besides those being specifically targeted in an operation. The consent decree has been in the spotlight amid the Trump administration's Chicago-area immigration crackdown that's led to more than 4,000 arrests.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, who found the government violated the agreement, ordered the release of more than 600 immigrants on bond, which the appeals court paused. Roughly 450 remain in custody, attorneys say.

In the 2-1 opinion, the appeals court said Cummings overstepped his authority on the blanket release of the detainees without assessing each case individually. The consent decree “carefully maps out what the district judge can or cannot order” to balance enforcement and public safety, according to the opinion. But the ruling also said the Trump administration wrongly categorized all immigrant arrestees as subject to mandatory detention.

Plaintiffs' attorneys said they were disheartened by the ruling but glad the court upheld the extension of the agreement, which among other things requires ICE to show documentation for each arrest it makes. Federal judges elsewhere including in Colorado have also ruled to limit warrantless arrests.

Attorneys pushed for a quick decision, saying many are being deported without knowing their options. The hundreds of detainees, mostly from the Chicago area, were arrested from summer through the early weeks of the “Operation Midway Blitz” immigration crackdown in the fall. Attorneys have said they have collected information on hundreds of more people they believe were also improperly arrested.

“We will work tirelessly to ensure that people who were unlawfully arrested will be able to return to their families and communities as soon as possible,” said Keren Zwick with the National Immigrant Justice Center.

A message left Thursday for the Department of Homeland Security was not immediately returned.

The consent decree, which expired earlier this year, was extended until February. The federal government tried to challenge the extension in court.

The agreement was originally reached between immigrant rights groups and the federal government following a lawsuit over 2018 immigration sweeps. It applies to immigrants arrested in six states covered by the ICE field office in Chicago. Those states are Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Wisconsin.