Judge Halts Trump’s Arrest Wave – Federal Court Declares ICE Arrests Illegal and Strikes at the President’s Core

A federal judge in Chicago has drawn a line against the Trump administration’s drive for executive dominance. In a ruling that reaches far beyond Illinois, he declared the arrest of 26 people by immigration agents in January unlawful. It was the early phase of Trump’s second term, when the new administration launched Department of Homeland Security raids with martial language and maximum force – treating the law as an afterthought.

Judge Jeffrey Cummings of the U.S. District Court in Chicago has now made it clear: even federal agencies are not above the Constitution. In his decision, he condemned the conduct of ICE and DHS as a clear violation of an existing 2022 agreement, the so-called “Consent Decree,” which explicitly prohibits arrests without a judicial warrant or probable cause. The January raids – carried out in several Midwestern cities – violated this agreement and, as the judge wrote, “the fundamental principle of the rule of law in a democracy.”

Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings of the U.S. District Court in Chicago ruled on October 7, 2025, that the Department of Homeland Security and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency had violated the 2022 Consent Decree, which forbids arrests without a warrant or probable cause. The ruling concerns 26 people who were unlawfully detained in the Midwest in January – just days after the start of Trump’s second term. We had reported on these cases and conducted much of the investigation ourselves. The court found that ICE had used retroactive internal administrative documents to justify the arrests and ordered the agency to submit monthly reports on all warrantless detentions. In addition, the plaintiffs and the government must exchange all alleged violations by October 22, file a joint status report by November 5, and appear before the court on November 12 to report on implementation. The plaintiffs’ motions to enforce and modify the settlement were partially granted to introduce new transparency obligations. This ruling marks the first judicial confirmation during Trump’s second term that ICE violated a federal court order – a decision that strengthens protection against arbitrary detention and signals resistance to executive overreach.

A pivotal case was that of Sergio Bolanos Romero. It was a cold January morning in Chicago when he set out to go to work – an ordinary day in an ordinary life. He lived with his family in the city’s southwest, his son a U.S. citizen, and his daily routine differed little from that of other working families in Illinois. But on January 26, 2025, the routine abruptly ended. Just a few blocks from his home, Sergio was stopped, surrounded, and arrested by ICE agents – without a warrant, without apparent cause, without any legal basis.

According to the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), his car was not the model the agents were looking for. Nevertheless, they ordered him to step out, took his ID, and positioned him between his car and theirs – a stance that made escape impossible. Sergio was effectively detained without being shown any document authorizing his arrest. He asked for a warrant. There was none. He was taken to a nearby parking garage, then to an ICE processing center, and finally transferred to a jail in neighboring Wisconsin. Two days later, he was released on bond – but not free from fear.

His case became part of a class action known as “Castañon Nava v. Department of Homeland Security” – one of those seemingly technical cases that decide fundamental rights. This 2022 settlement obligates ICE not to conduct arrests without a warrant or clear probable cause within the Chicago jurisdiction. But that is exactly what happened. The lawsuit was filed in March by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois together with several migrant rights organizations. They documented that ICE agents had detained people during neighborhood, gas station, and workplace sweeps without producing warrants – often on mere suspicion, frequently based only on skin color or accent.

“Today’s decision makes clear that DHS and ICE – like everyone else – must follow the Constitution and the law,” said Michelle García, deputy legal director of the ACLU of Illinois and co-counsel in the case. “The federal government’s reckless practice of stopping, harassing, and detaining people – and then finding a justification afterward – must end.”

Judge Cummings, under docket number 1:18-cv-03757 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, also ordered ICE to disclose monthly how many arrests are made without judicial authorization. It is a rarely imposed requirement – one that could force the Department of Homeland Security in Washington to rethink its entire enforcement strategy.

The ruling strikes the administration at a sensitive point. Since Trump began his second term in January, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has dramatically increased arrests in “noncooperative cities.” Particularly in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee, the authorities have acted with new ferocity – supported by Trump’s Interior Secretary Kristi Noem, who deployed ICE teams to metropolitan areas to, as she put it, “take back control of our country.” Behind the rhetoric lie families whose lives collapse in seconds. Many of those arrested in January have lived legally in the U.S. for years, some with pending visa applications or DACA protections. At least five of them were held for days without access to lawyers. Now they receive belated but tangible vindication – in the form of a ruling that directly challenges Trump’s claim to unchecked executive power.

For the ACLU, it is more than a legal victory – it is a reminder that even in times of fear, the law endures. “This administration believes it can act as it pleases as long as it says ‘national security,’” García said. “But the Constitution contains no exceptions for political slogans.” The ruling could not only have far-reaching implications – it will become a major problem for Trump. If ICE is forced to reveal its numbers, it could expose how far federal authorities have gone beyond their lawful limits. Legal experts are already calling it a precedent – one of the few in the Trump era that pushes back against arbitrariness.

Chicago, which in recent months has become the arena for a new power struggle between federal and state authorities, is now witnessing a legal reawakening – a return to what was once self-evident: that no office, no president, and no uniform may bend the law. While Trump’s National Guard units continue to patrol the streets, almost invisibly, and his rhetoric remains aimed at escalation, a single judge has reminded the nation that democracy endures only when someone dares to say “no.” This time, that “no” came from Chicago – and it echoes far beyond the city.