The panel was split 2-1, with Judge Easterbrook dissenting. The majority was particularly critical of Ellis dismissing the lawsuit "without prejudice" even though the parties didn't ask for that.
It left the door open for them to refile the case at some point down the road
JUST IN: The 7th Circuit has vacated District Judge Sara Ellis' injunction order in the case that led to use-of-force restrictions on immigration agents in Chicago, calling it "constitutionally suspect."
It essentially treats the ruling as if it never existed, rather than just a dismissal.
"Spreading of lies"
"An incompetent leader"
"She will not be missed in Chicago."
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out"
Illinois officials cheer Kristi Noem’s ouster at Homeland Security:
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/05/t...
"Greg Bovino, Tricia McLaughlin, and now Noem. Everyone involved in the spreading of lies about Marimar Martinez is out of their job. Now it is time for the FBI to do their job and investigate Agent Charles Exum and his Border Patrol buddies for their lies "and his unlawful shooting of Ms. Martinez"
Marimar Martinez's lawyer, Chris Parente:
"We are pleased that there is still some level of accountability remaining for our Government officials who blindly push out false narratives without any due diligence or investigation of the truth."
///BREAKING/// President Donald Trump says he’s replacing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/05/t...
Kristi Noem is out as DHS secretary
Marimar Martinez says says it's "even worse" if Noem truly does not know about her shooting
"She's the leader of DHS and one of her agents attempted to kill me, a U.S. citizen on the streets of Chicago. It was reported in every national news outlet for months. Does she not read the newspaper?"
NEW: With Marimar Martinez standing right behind her, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told the Senate Judiciary Committee she was not “familiar with the details” of Martinez’s shooting by Border Patrol in Chicago and unaware whether the agent was still on duty.
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/03/d...
While congratulating Kristi Noem on her department’s work, Republican Sen. Ashley Moody puts up a poster of “notorious criminals” investigated by HSI, including Chicago’s own R. Kelly.
Durbin to Noem:
"This is the first time we have met. I tried to meet with you before, but you refused every request...No official is above the law. You have no right to deploy agents as a paramilitary force in American cities."
An image of Chicago woman Marimar Martinez, shot 5 times by a Border Patrol agent in October, and Renee Good and Alex Pretti, killed by immigration officers in Minneapolis, is held up as Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin speaks at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, where Kristi Noem will testify
NEW: A reputed high-ranking member of the Sinaloa drug cartel has been indicted on federal charges in Chicago alleging he ran security and helped the sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman-Loera smuggle and distribute large quantities of narcotics into the U.S. www.chicagotribune.com?p=33187251&p...
A day laborer arrested while sitting at a CTA bus stop; an immigrant with bad knees who agents said tried to run from them, an Amazon driver pulled over in Glenview; two men arrested in a raid in South Shore.
All deemed illegal arrests by a federal judge today
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/27/t...
It's not clear if all of the people he ordered released are still here in the U.S.
The number who have self-deported or been otherwise removed is constantly changing.
Judge Jeffrey Cummings has found dozens more Midway Blitz targets were arrested without probable cause and orders them released on their own recognizance and without having to post bond.
This should happen by Thursday, March 5, he says
Among other violations the judge has found: a day laborer apprehended while sitting at a CTA bus stop (DHS claimed that made him a flight risk), a man with bad knees who could not run (Agents claimed he tried to flee, video proved otherwise), and an Amazon delivery driver (again, flight risk).
Cummings has determined that Jose Miguel Jimenez and Jeickson Delgado Avila, who were arrested during the South Shore raid, were arrested without a warrant and without probable cause to believe they were a risk of flight, and that their arrests violated a 2022 consent decree
JUST IN: A federal judge has found that immigration agents have no probable cause to detain two people arrested in an infamous raid on a building in Chicago's the South Shore neighborhood in September.
Judge Cummings is still reading his ruling
background:
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/14/o...
Proud to be sharing this award with my fantastic colleagues @royalpratt.bsky.social @andrew-carter.bsky.social @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social @ckubzansky.bsky.social
Thanks @newhousesu.bsky.social
and to the entire Tribune newsroom for its immigration coverage
newhouse.syracuse.edu/news/the-was...
The feds say they plan to narrow conspiracy allegations and review “newly unearthed” evidence in the “Broadview Six” case accusing a group of Democrats and other protesters of conspiring to block and damage an immigration agent’s vehicle.
Story: www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/26/b...
Perry gives the government until March 30 to "drill down" on their theories of the case and advise the defense.
Judge Perry says the defense has not shown that a bill of particulars is appropriate, but they've gotten most of the way there by getting the government to give details in court about the elements of the conspiracy.
Defense attorney Josh Herman says they need notice of what prosecutors plan to prove in court, including whether "banging and bracing against the hood" of a car is use of "force."
"One of your natural reactions is to put your hand on the car and try to make it stop," Herman says.
AUSA Matthew Skiba says they plan to prove the conspirators knew that the victim was an ICE agent, but not that the conspiracy involved spoken agreements.
He also said, "At this point we don't have any evidence of advance planning"
Hogan also says they want to review new evidence unearthed by the defense, which appears to be a reference to Broadview body cam video footage.
Judge Perry: "I'm not going to force you to go to trial on something you don't think is supported by the evidence."
Hearing called.
AUSA Hogan says the government will be seeking to amend the indictment to narrow the conspiracy charges.
He also says he needs a week or so to confer with US Attorney Andrew Boutros and other supervisors about the case.
Taking the place of AUSA Sheri Mecklenburg is Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan, the longest-serving prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office who, in comments to the Tribune, defended his office's handling of Operation Midway Blitz cases
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/30/u...
Next on the federal court docket today: A hearing in the 'Broadview Six' immigration protest case, the first since the Tribune reported the lead prosecutor was leaving for an assignment in Washington DC and will miss the high-profile trial
Background:
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/23/p...
Tommy Schaefer was led into a Chicago federal courtroom today, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit and shackled at the ankles.
He blew a kiss to his mother and walked with a slight limp up to the lectern, where he plead not guilty.
He faces up to life in prison. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/26/t...
