On a brisk Wednesday afternoon in downtown Chicago, the courtroom drama surrounding Operation Midway Blitz took another twist. Just hours before Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino was set to appear before U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis for a daily debriefing on federal immigration enforcement actions, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay, halting the judge’s unusual order—at least for now. The decision, which came at 3:47 p.m. on October 29, 2025, marked a pivotal moment in a rapidly escalating legal battle between federal authorities and civil rights advocates, all set against the backdrop of mounting public concern about the use of force in Chicago’s neighborhoods.
Judge Ellis’s directive had been clear and, to many, unprecedented: Bovino, a 30-year veteran of the Border Patrol and currently chief of the El Centro, California sector, was to appear in open court each weekday at 5:45 p.m. until at least November 5. Her goal? To obtain real-time updates on the conduct of agents participating in Operation Midway Blitz—a federal immigration enforcement initiative that, since its launch in early September, has resulted in more than 1,800 arrests and a flurry of complaints about excessive force, especially the deployment of tear gas in residential areas.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the daily court appearances were intended to address “ongoing immigration enforcement actions,” with Judge Ellis also instructing Bovino to provide every use-of-force report and all accompanying body camera footage generated since the operation began. The judge’s order followed weeks of tense encounters between government agents and protesters, residents, and journalists, many of whom alleged that federal officers had indiscriminately used tear gas and other crowd control agents during demonstrations—sometimes in violation of Ellis’s own temporary restraining order (TRO) issued on October 9, which barred such tactics unless officers were directly threatened.
The Department of Justice, representing the Trump administration, wasted no time in challenging Ellis’s order. In an emergency motion filed just hours before Bovino’s scheduled appearance, DOJ attorneys argued that the judge’s demands “significantly interfere with the quintessentially executive function of ensuring the Nation’s immigration laws are properly enforced by waylaying a senior executive official critical to that mission on a daily basis.” They further contended that “every occasion that Chief Bovino is required to prepare and appear for those daily court sessions is time that he would otherwise spend carrying out the important law-enforcement functions he has been assigned.”
In its one-page ruling, the appellate court sided with the government—at least temporarily. The order stated, “IT IS ORDERED that the government’s request for an administrative stay is GRANTED. Pending a decision on the petition for a writ of mandamus, the district court’s October 28, 2025 order is temporarily STAYED only to the extent it required Gregory Bovino to appear in court, in person, each weekday at 5:45 PM.” The court also instructed the plaintiffs—comprising protesters, clergy, and journalists who brought the original lawsuit—to file a brief by 5 p.m. the following day.
The legal wrangling comes amid a broader reckoning over federal immigration enforcement tactics in Chicago and beyond. Operation Midway Blitz, which has seen agents from both Border Patrol and ICE deployed across the city and its suburbs, has drawn sharp criticism from civil rights advocates and local officials. Reports of tear gas being used during a Halloween parade on Chicago’s Northwest Side, with children present, particularly alarmed Judge Ellis. “Halloween is on Friday,” she said during Tuesday’s hearing. “I do not want to get violation reports from the plaintiffs that show that agents are out and about on Halloween, where kids are present and tear gas is being deployed.”
For his part, Bovino has vigorously defended the actions of his agents. In a televised interview with Fox News, he remarked, “If she wants to meet with me every day, then she’s going to see, she’s going to have a very good firsthand look at just how bad things really are on the streets of Chicago. I look forward to meeting with that judge to show her exactly what’s happening and the extreme amount of violence perpetrated against law enforcement here.” In another exchange with Telemundo, Bovino was more pointed: “Did Judge Ellis get hit in the head with a rock like I did this morning? I had to apply gas this morning against people. Was she hit in the head with a rock? Maybe she needs to see what that’s like before issuing an order like that.” When pressed on whether he had followed Ellis’s orders, Bovino replied, “We have always followed orders...”
Yet, allegations persist that federal agents have violated the TRO. Plaintiffs’ attorneys claim Bovino himself used tear gas on October 23 in the Little Village neighborhood during an immigration arrest, despite the restraining order. Bovino and the Department of Homeland Security counter that the use of force was justified because he had been struck in the head by a rock thrown by protesters. Top deputy officials testified last week that chemical agents were deployed only when agents were blocked from leaving or attacked.
The legal battle over Operation Midway Blitz is not unfolding in isolation. According to the Associated Press, related lawsuits across the country are challenging the federal government’s authority to deploy National Guard troops in cities like Chicago and Portland. On the same day as the appellate court’s stay, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to act on the Trump administration’s emergency appeal to overturn a lower-court ruling blocking troop deployments in the Chicago area, effectively prohibiting such deployments until at least November 17 while additional briefs are filed.
The heightened security climate was palpable on Wednesday as the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse was briefly locked down due to a suspicious package—an incident unrelated to the Bovino proceedings, but one that delayed other court business and underscored the tension permeating the federal building. The “all clear” was given shortly after 4 p.m., restoring normal operations.
Meanwhile, the legal process grinds on. Bovino is still required to sit for a videotaped deposition on October 30, ahead of a preliminary injunction hearing set for November 5, where the central question will be whether to further restrict the use of chemical agents in immigration enforcement. Judge Ellis has also demanded that all use-of-force reports and body camera footage since September 2 be submitted by October 31, and that Bovino himself be equipped with a body camera—a move intended to ensure transparency and accountability, especially as the city prepares for Halloween festivities.
In a parallel development, prosecutors filed charges against Kat Abughazaleh, a Democratic congressional candidate, and five others for allegedly blocking an agent’s car during a September 26 protest at an immigration enforcement building in Broadview, Illinois. Abughazaleh called the prosecution “an attempt to silence dissent,” highlighting the political dimensions of the ongoing dispute.
As the clock ticks toward November 5, all eyes remain on the federal courts. The outcome of these hearings—and the broader legal fight over federal enforcement tactics—will likely reverberate far beyond Chicago, shaping the national debate over immigration, civil liberties, and the limits of executive power in the months to come.
