Appeals court weighs legality of local ICE arrests

Catch up quick: The case revolves around rules established in 2022 that prohibit warrantless immigration arrests without probable cause in Illinois and nearby states.

• The plaintiffs (led by the National Immigrant Justice Center and ACLU Illinois) argue that many of the 3,000-plus people detained by federal immigration officers this year were arrested in violation of those rules and should be freed (on bond) until a court makes a final determination on their individual cases.
• Many of the detainees in question were scheduled to be released on bond starting Nov. 21 under monitoring programs, per orders of District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, but the Trump administration appealed the release.
• An appeals court then halted the release until it could hear arguments that started this week.

• Most of the thousands detained in the region have already been deported or were not locatable by their lawyers, but at least 400 remain in jails across the country.

The intrigue: While Trump administration officials said they would deport the "worst of the worst," records show that less than 3% of those awaiting release in this case have any criminal records.

What's next: NIJC and ACLU lawyers say they hope the panel of judges will rule in the coming days or weeks at the most.