A federal judge on Wednesday (November 12, 2025) ordered bail for hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested in Chicago during President Donald Trump’s administration’s immigration offensive, another setback for Republicans in the nation’s third-largest city.
District Judge Jeffrey Cummings ordered the release of the detainees, who are deemed not to pose a domestic security risk, pending the outcome of their immigration cases.
The judge’s order applies to immigrants arrested without a court order or probable cause, according to the Chicago Tribune, one of the city’s major newspapers in the northeastern part of the country.
The judge allowed the detainees to be released on $1,500 bail with some monitoring, including electronic ankle bracelets, the paper said.
These detainees were among thousands of immigrants detained during immigration raids in Chicago. Many have already been deported or have voluntarily agreed to leave the country.
DHS expresses displeasure with court decision
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) condemned the judge’s decision.
“At every turn, activist judges, sanctuary city politicians, and violent protesters have actively sought to prevent our nation’s police officers from arresting and deporting the worst of the worst,” the Department of Homeland Security said on the X Network.
The judge’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the National Immigration Justice Center and the American Civil Liberties Union that said the wave of immigrant arrests was illegal.
President Trump ordered hundreds of National Guard troops to the Democratic city in the name of fighting crime and supporting a strategy against illegal immigration.
He issued similar orders this year in three other Democratic-led cities: Los Angeles, Washington and Memphis.
But his efforts to deploy soldiers to Chicago as well as Portland stalled and were blocked in court.
jc (afp, chicago tribune)
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