A federal court filing alleges that U.S. immigration authorities knowingly violated a 2022 consent decree by detaining and deporting dozens—if not hundreds—of immigrants during large-scale enforcement operations in the Chicago area, even after acknowledging some arrests were unlawful.
The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), which represents affected individuals, claims Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) failed to promptly review cases under the Castañon Nava consent decree, which restricts warrantless arrests unless agents have probable cause of unlawful presence and flight risk.
Instead, many detainees faced prolonged detention and were pressured into signing voluntary departure forms or receiving removal orders before their eligibility for relief could be assessed.
One high-profile case involves Henry Cordova Jaya, arrested during 2025 raids despite the government later admitting the detention violated the decree. Rather than releasing him promptly in February 2025 as promised in court filings, authorities held him 18 more days before deporting him to Ecuador.
Another example is José Jiménez (“Pepe”), arrested in a widely criticized September 2025 raid on a South Shore apartment building. Jiménez, a longtime Chicago resident and pizza delivery driver with no criminal record, spent nearly eight months in detention at Hopkins County Jail in Kentucky. Despite family support letters and repeated court appearances, he signed voluntary departure and returned to Michoacán, Mexico, roughly a month before a judge ordered his release in late 2025.
NIJC senior litigation attorney Allena Martin described the process as a “race against time.” Delays in obtaining arrest records from the government slowed case reviews, forcing many detainees to choose between indefinite detention or leaving the country.
“Hundreds, if not thousands” of people arrested in the Chicago area during Operation Midway Blitz (which saw over 5,000 detentions) may have been entitled to relief, Martin said.
Yet only about 100 have been released since a November 2025 judicial order requiring case reviews, and just 14 of 36 ordered released last week remained in custody—others had already been deported.
The consent decree, originally set to expire in March 2025, was extended after NIJC and ACLU attorneys alleged widespread violations, including “collateral arrests” of non-target individuals and agents filling out blank I-200 warrants on scene—a practice U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings criticized as improper.
In an October 2025 ruling, Cummings questioned ICE’s claim that the decree had been canceled and ordered release of improperly detained individuals. A 7th Circuit appeals court partially reversed some aspects, requiring individualized assessments rather than blanket releases.
Homeland Security stated it “is complying with all lawful court orders” and will continue enforcing immigration laws, without addressing specific cases.
Advocates warn the slow pace and deportations have separated families and derailed lives, with many potential class members removed before their cases could be heard.
