Official defends use of tear gas in Chicago and says agents on immigration sweeps have cameras
U.S. Border Patrol agents in charge of immigration enforcement in the Chicago area have been given body cameras, an official said Monday, as a judge held a hearing to learn more about the Trump administration’s crackdown. More than 1,000 arrests together Complaints that agents are increasingly using combative tactics.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis last week ordered uniformed agents to wear cameras if they have them and to turn them on during arrests, searches and searches of premises or when traveling to protests.
Every Border Patrol agent who was part of Operation Midway Blitz “now has a body-worn camera,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection deputy incident commander Kyle Harvick told the judge.
He said 201 Border Patrol agents were in the Chicago area. Other federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are also participating in the operation.
The hearing was the final test in a lawsuit filed by news organizations and community groups that witnessed protests and arrests in the Chicago area. Ellis said earlier this month that agents must wear badges and banned them from using some riot control techniques against peaceful protesters and journalists.
He later said he was “a little surprised” last Thursday after seeing TV footage of street clashes in which agents used tear gas and other tactics.
Harvick defended the use of tear gas on protesters in a Chicago neighborhood on October 12, saying the gathered residents “will not allow agents to leave the scene.”
“The longer we linger on a scene and the test subjects come in, the more dangerous the situation becomes,” Harvick said. “And that’s a safety concern, not just for my brother Border Patrol agents, but for the detainees and other people who come out to see what’s going on.”
Shawn Byers, deputy director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, will also appear in court, government attorneys said.
News media and community groups submitted five pages of proposed issues to the hearing. They covered topics ranging from the number of agents in the Chicago area to training, tactics, and justifications for widespread immigration strikes. It’s unclear what the judge will allow to be asked.
The government bristled at any allegation of wrongdoing.
“The entire context was, and continues to be, that law enforcement officers in Chicago were attacked, injured, and prevented from enforcing federal law,” U.S. Justice Department attorney Samuel Holt said at a hearing Friday.
Separately, President Donald Trump’s administration was banned. Deployment of the National Guard Assisting immigration officers in Illinois. This order will expire on Thursday unless extended. Management is also asked the Supreme Court to allow deployment.
