As the Trump administration ratchets up its targeting of immigrant communities across the Chicagoland area, elected officials are looking for any tool they can find to protect their residents from militarized raids and roving bands of Border Patrol officers.

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans banned civil arrests at county courthouses across Chicago this week, preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from arresting and attempting to deport people who show up to public courtrooms for matters unrelated to immigration.

The order went into effect on Tuesday and comes as federal judges and public officials in Illinois continue to push back against President Donald Trump and Operation Midway Blitz, ICE’s ongoing immigration crackdown in the Chicago area, after weeks of

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