U.S. judge: Border official must appear in court daily

Diana Novak Jones, Renee Hickman and Ted Hesson

REUTERS

CHICAGO – A federal judge on Oct.28 ordered the Border Patrol official who leads President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Chicago to appear in court daily for the next week and to wear a body camera after chastising him over his agency’s frequent use of force and tear gas during enforcement actions in the city.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who earlier in October barred federal agents from using certain crowd-control tactics, told Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino that videos suggested his agency was overstepping legal bounds during enforcement operations.

'I am getting video that the plaintiffs file, I’m getting videos that citizens send in. And at least in the videos that I see, knowing that I am not there, it is difficult for me to see that the force being used is necessary to stop an immediate and serious threat of physical harm,' Ellis said.

Ellis ordered Bovino to come to court each weekday at 6p.m. before a Nov.5 hearing related to a legal challenge filed by protesters and others over the border agency’s tactics.

The judge also required the Trump administration by Oct.31 to supply reports about the use of force and body-camera footage in Chicago since it launched its immigration enforcement operation in the third-largest U.S. city on Sept.2.

Ellis, who read aloud her earlier order at the start of the hearing, referenced an incident on Oct.25 in the residential neighborhood of Old Irving Park where agents tackled residents and fired tear gas without warning, according to court declarations by two witnesses. One of the witnesses said he was preparing to take his children to a Halloween parade before agents arrived and deployed tear gas.

'Kids dressed in Halloween costumes, walking to a parade, do not pose an immediate threat for the safety of a law enforcement officer,' Ellis said. 'They just don’t. And you can’t use riot-control weapons against them.'

When Ellis pressed Bovino about an earlier order requiring agents to wear body-worn cameras when available, he said that '99%' of border agency personnel in Chicago had them but that he personally did not.

Ellis, who had mandated that all border agents in Chicago wear body cameras if available, ordered Bovino to get a camera and training on how to use it by Oct.31.

Under Bovino’s leadership, federal agents have used tear gas in residential areas and forcibly subdued protesters while attempting to arrest suspected immigration violators, drawing criticism and legal scrutiny.

Ellis ordered Bovino’s appearance after protesters submitted a video they said showed him violating the judge’s court order directing federal agents to give multiple warnings before using tear gas and other anti-riot weapons.

In the video, Bovino appeared to toss a canister of gas at protesters who had gathered as federal agents conducted arrests Oct.23 in a Chicago neighborhood.

In a statement on Oct.24, U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the agents were surrounded by a large group while conducting an enforcement operation.