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In a gut-punch to federal overreach, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can be arrested for snatching migrants without warrants at Cook County courthouses.
The ruling marks a seismic shift in the battle over immigration enforcement, exposing the raw nerve of ICE’s tactics in Chicago’s streets.
Cummings’ order bans ICE from making warrantless arrests at courthouses, declaring them safe havens for witnesses and suspects.
"The fair administration of justice requires that courts remain open and accessible, and that litigants and witnesses may appear without fear of civil arrest," Cummings wrote.
He slammed ICE’s "collateral arrests," nabbing migrants they stumble across while hunting warranted targets, as a violation of a 2022 consent decree, citing 26 unlawful detentions during Trump’s second term kickoff.
"One thing seems clear: ICE rousted American citizens from their apartments during the middle of the night and detained them — in zip ties no less — for far longer than the 'brief' period authorized," the judge continued.
He called ICE’s practice of carrying blank warrants for on-the-spot arrests "meritless," spotlighting the case of Abel Orozco-Ortega, a father detained despite no criminal history, mistaken for his son.
"He was the main provider," said Eduardo Orozco, Abel’s son. "Having him gone, it’s hard."
The Department of Homeland Security fired back, defending its tactics.
"We aren’t some medieval kingdom; there are no legal sanctuaries where you can hide and avoid the consequences for breaking the law,” DHS said in a statement.
Yet, they pledged to "comply with all lawful court orders and address this matter with the court."
Immigrant advocates cheered the ruling.
“What we have seen now to a much larger scale is federal agents indiscriminately stopping and arresting people without warrants and without probable cause,” said Mark Fleming of the National Immigrant Justice Center.
Xanat Sobrevilla of Organized Communities Against Deportation, declared, "To our Black and Brown people and immigrants, it does not always seem like this Earth wants us. But we want us, and that can be enough."
As the clock ticks toward the February 2026 consent decree deadline, Cummings’ ruling demands ICE retrain officers and report all warrantless arrests monthly.
Only time will tell if this judge’s gavel can hold the line against a federal juggernaut.
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