US appeals court halts ruling limiting immigration agents’ use of force in Chicago

ISTANBUL

A US federal appeals court on Wednesday halted a lower court order that limited immigration agents’ controversial use of force and dealings with protesters and journalists in Chicago, a city targeted by the federal government in an immigrant crackdown.

A three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit granted the Trump administration’s emergency bid to halt the order issued earlier this month by US District Judge Sara Ellis.

In its decision, the panel said the government was likely to succeed, calling the district court’s order “overbroad” and saying it had improperly swept in “an expansive range of defendants … including the President of the United States, the entire Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, and anyone acting in concert with them.”

It said the order was “too prescriptive,” describing specific riot-control weapons and tools in a way that “resembles a federal regulation,” and concluded that Ellis was “impermissibly infringing” on the separation of powers between the federal government’s executive and judicial branches.

Ellis’ order barred several forms of force, such as pulling or shoving, required agents to issue warnings before using tear gas or other crowd-control weapons, and mandated that most officers wear clear identification and body cameras.

The Trump administration is facing a series of legal challenges from protesters, detainees, and state and local authorities as it pushes forward with an aggressive nationwide immigration crackdown that has seen thousands of migrants detained across multiple states.

The use of force against protesters has been a particular flashpoint, with activists objecting to what they say is the use of force on non-violent protesters, including members of the clergy targeted while leading prayers.

After pledging to go after illegal immigrants who are criminals or terrorists, the Trump administration has drawn criticism for using violent tactics and seeking to deport longstanding, law-abiding US immigrants, many of them respected members of the community with families.

Critics have pointed to orders for immigration agents to make thousands of detentions every day as fueling the controversial crackdown.