The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is calling a federal appeals court decision a victory after it temporarily halted what the agency described as an “act of judicial overreach.”
On Wednesday, an appeals court blocked a ruling issued just one day earlier by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who had ordered a senior Border Patrol official to deliver daily briefings to her about immigration enforcement operations in Chicago.
The judge’s order followed weeks of tension over “Operation Midway Blitz,” a coordinated Border Patrol effort that has led to more than 1,800 arrests in the city. The operation has drawn complaints from activists but has been defended by federal officials as a necessary response to rising unlawful activity.
In its appeal, the Justice Department said Ellis’s mandate would be “extraordinarily disruptive” to law enforcement operations. “The order significantly interferes with the quintessentially executive function of ensuring the Nation’s immigration laws are properly enforced by waylaying a senior executive official critical to that mission on a daily basis,” the department wrote.
Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino had earlier told Fox News he was willing to speak with the judge, even as government lawyers sought to overturn the order. DHS welcomed the appeals court’s decision, saying in a statement to the Associated Press, “We are thrilled this act of judicial overreach has been paused.”
The dispute comes as federal agents continue Operation Midway Blitz, which DHS has described as one of its most significant enforcement actions in recent years. On Tuesday, DHS released video footage on X showing agents under attack during an immigration raid in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, a predominantly Mexican American community on the city’s Southwest Side. The post was captioned “VIDEO EVIDENCE.”
Last week, DHS reported that three illegal immigrants and six U.S. citizens were arrested in connection with what it called “one of the most violent days” of the ongoing operation.
