Border Patrol chief in Chicago ordered to give judge daily updates
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U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino leaves federal court at the Dirksen Federal Building after his hearing in Chicago on Tuesday. Photo: Kamil Krzacynski/AFP via Getty Images
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis in Chicago is requiring Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino to procure a body camera for himself and meet with her every weekday to provide updates on operations.
Why it matters: The orders mark the latest escalation in requirements for federal officials amid controversial CBP operations that Ellis suspects violate her temporary restraining order (TRO) on how agents can interact with the public, especially regarding tear gas, tackling and identification.
Catch up quick: Ellis issued the TRO in response to an Oct. 6 lawsuit several Chicago news outlets filed against Department of Homeland Security officials, claiming "extreme brutality" against journalists outside the Broadview ICE processing facility.
- Later in the month, Ellis expressed concerns, based on new incidents, that her order was being violated and expanded the order to require DHS agents to wear body cams.
Driving the news: More incidents, including immigration agents' use of tear gas in Old Irving Saturday before a scheduled Halloween parade, prompted Ellis to call Bovino in for testimony on Tuesday.
What they're saying: "Kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not pose an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer," Ellis said. "They just don't."
- She added that kids' "sense of safety was shattered Saturday and it's gonna take a long time for that to come back, if ever."
Zoom in: Ellis reminded Bovino that they both took an oath to the Constitution and said she hoped her TRO was simply unclear.
- So she recited the rules and incidents of potential violations.
- When she asked Bovino if they were now "on the same page," he answered that "we are in that we will abide by the TRO and the accouterments therein."
The fine print: Ellis is also requiring DHS to hand over all use-of-force incident reports and accompanying video from Sept. 2 to Oct. 25 by Friday.
Zoom out: The judge seemed surprised that Bovino did not possess a body camera despite testimony last week from a CBP officer saying most of their agents here already had them.
The latest: After the last week of repeated tear gas use, attorneys for the journalists asked Ellis to require DHS agents to stop using it completely.
- Attorneys for the government argued that gas "allows the agents to leave safely in highly volatile situations … protects the agents and the people being brought into custody so that more lethal remedies, like hand fighting, do not occur."
- Ellis denied the request but said she thinks Bovino now knows the rules "and the importance of documentation and video, so I suspect ... that we are not going to see a lot of tear gas deployed over the next week."
What's next: Bovino must start meeting every weekday with Ellis this week, and government lawyers say they will get back to her on whether they can deliver the reports and video by her Friday deadline.
The bottom line: "I do not want to get violation reports … that agents are out on Halloween where kids are present and tear gas is being deployed," Ellis said.