The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has stepped in to halt a striking judicial order that would have required a senior U.S. Border Patrol commander to appear in court every weekday — a move tied to growing tensions over federal immigration enforcement in Chicago.
Gregory Bovino, a roving operations commander overseeing the Trump administration’s intensified border and immigration operations, was set to face U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis on Wednesday. But just hours before his scheduled appearance, the appellate court froze the directive, siding with government lawyers who warned it would interfere with his duties on the ground.
The unusual showdown began Tuesday, when Judge Ellis — visibly frustrated by reports of force used during immigration arrests — ordered Bovino to attend court daily to account for his team’s actions. She read aloud sections from a prior order limiting agents’ use of tear gas and physical force, and accused Bovino’s unit of breaching those restrictions.
Justice Department lawyers quickly petitioned the higher court, calling the daily appearance order “an extraordinary intrusion” into executive operations.
At the heart of the dispute is a civil rights lawsuit brought by protesters, journalists, and clergy, alleging that federal agents — acting under Bovino’s command — deliberately targeted them with excessive force during recent demonstrations. The plaintiffs claim officers fired tear gas into crowds without warning and ignored Ellis’s prior injunction requiring clear identification and warnings before deploying anti-riot weapons.
The Department of Homeland Security has denied the violations, maintaining that all actions were lawful and “preceded by appropriate warnings.” Officials within the department expressed relief at the appellate court’s intervention, calling the pause “a necessary check on judicial overreach.”
Judge Ellis, meanwhile, has ordered the government to submit every Border Patrol use-of-force report in Chicago since early September. She also demanded that Bovino personally wear a body camera after reviewing video evidence purportedly showing him throwing a tear gas canister into a crowd.
The clash unfolds against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration push in Chicago — an effort marked by arrests, public unrest, and stalled attempts to deploy National Guard troops.
With the appeals court now weighing whether Judge Ellis’s directive overstepped her authority, the case has become a rare test of how far federal courts can go in scrutinizing on-the-ground enforcement during a politically charged crackdown.
