Greg Bovino, a roving Border Patrol operations commander who is leading U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in the area, leaves court in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., October 28, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

By Diana Novak Jones

CHICAGO (Reuters) -A top U.S. border official won’t have to appear before a judge in Chicago on Wednesday after a U.S. appeals court paused her order directing him to come to court every weekday to answer questions about the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the city.

Just hours before U.S. Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino was slated to appear in U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis’ courtroom Wednesday evening, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted Ellis’ order. Government attorneys had argued the directive interferes with Bovino’s work enforcing federal immigration law.

At the end of a highly unusual hearing on Tuesday, Ellis had issued an extraordinary order requiring Bovino to appear regularly in her court to discuss the day's immigration enforcement operations. During the hearing, she read aloud from a prior order setting limits on federal agents' use of force and chastised him for apparently violating its terms.

U.S. Justice Department lawyers had filed a petition with the appeals court on Wednesday afternoon, asking the 7th Circuit to immediately pause Ellis' ruling before Bovino was scheduled to appear at 5:45 p.m. local time (2245 GMT) and to consider whether it was proper for her to order it.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, has made Chicago, the third largest U.S. city, a focus of his aggressive immigration enforcement during the past two months. Under Bovino's leadership, federal agents have used tear gas in residential areas and forcibly subdued protesters while attempting to arrest people suspected of being in the country illegally, drawing criticism and legal scrutiny.

Ellis is presiding over a lawsuit filed by protesters, journalists and clergy alleging they were deliberately targeted and brutalized during demonstrations and challenging the legality of the tactics used by officials.

An attorney for the plaintiffs declined to comment. In a statement, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said they were "thrilled this act of judicial overreach has been paused.”

On October 9, Ellis entered a temporary restraining order requiring federal agents to provide warnings before deploying anti-riot weapons such as tear gas and to wear clear identification. Ellis later required agents who have body cameras to turn them on during their work.

The plaintiffs in the case have provided Ellis with video that they said showed federal agents violating the judge's order, including video that appeared to show Bovino throwing a tear gas canister without warning protesters.

In a statement after the video was submitted to the court, U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said warnings were given before Bovino and other agents deployed the chemicals.

During Tuesday's hearing, Ellis reprimanded Bovino over his agency's actions and told him to get a body camera to wear himself. She also gave the government until Friday to provide her with all of Border Patrol’s reports on its use of force against protesters, dating back to when the operation began on September 2.

In response to protests, Trump has attempted to send National Guard troops to Illinois, but the move has been halted for now by another court.

(Reporting by Diana Novak Jones; Editing by Leslie Adler, Alexia Garamfalvi, Daniel Wallis and Diane Craft)