A federal judge has ordered Gregory Bovino, a senior US border patrol official leading the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Chicago, to appear in court every weekday to report on enforcement actions. The exceptional measure aims to impose oversight after repeated violations of court orders regarding the use of force.
US district judge Sara Ellis issued the order following a hearing on Tuesday, during which she criticised agents for deploying chemical irritants against residents, including children heading to a Halloween parade. 'Kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not pose an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer,' she told Bovino.
The order is the latest attempt to maintain oversight over Bovino and his agents, who have been involved in 'Operation Midway Blitz', a heavily militarised immigration crackdown that has resulted in at least 3,000 arrests since September. The use of force by federal agents first came before Ellis after media organisations, protesters and clergy members filed a lawsuit alleging 'extreme brutality'.
Ellis had previously ordered agents to avoid using teargas without two warnings and to wear body cameras. On Tuesday, she told Bovino he must personally obtain and complete training on a body camera by Friday. Bovino, who appeared in green fatigues with Customs and Border Protection insignia, agreed to each request.
Bovino, chief of the border patrol sector in El Centro, California, has become the face of Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement in cities including Chicago and Los Angeles. In LA, agents smashed car windows and blew open a door while a woman and her two young children were inside. Immigration advocates have raised concerns about border patrol agents, who are trained for border security, conducting civil immigration enforcement in urban communities.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment. During the hearing, Ellis questioned Bovino's own use of teargas, after he was captured on video throwing a canister into a group of residents in the Little Village neighbourhood. She also questioned agents' use of force in the Old Irving Park area, saying: 'These kids, you can imagine, their sense of safety was shattered on Saturday.'
