Overview
- U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings directed immediate release of 13 detainees transferred out of Illinois, required DHS to provide status and flight‑risk details for 615 by Friday, to deliver a full Chicago arrests list by Nov. 19, and to release on bond at least 313 low‑risk detainees by Nov. 21.
- Cummings is enforcing the Castañon Nava consent decree, which permits warrantless immigration arrests only with probable cause of unlawful presence plus a likely escape risk, after earlier findings that DHS and ICE likely violated the agreement.
- Those cleared for release are to receive roughly $1,500 bond and enter ICE’s Alternatives to Detention monitoring, while anyone flagged as a public‑safety risk will remain in custody.
- Attorneys said many people identified for relief were already deported or agreed to removal—about 1,100 by their estimate—so the judge also stayed deportations for the roughly 600‑person group under review.
- Government lawyers warned compliance will be a significant challenge and signaled a possible stay or appeal, as advocates say their list of potentially unlawful arrests now tops 3,000 and court records show many arrests at workplaces, during commutes, in stores, and at immigration hearings.