A federal judge has ordered that hundreds of people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement be released from federal facilities in the next week because their arrests by ICE were possibly unlawful and in violation of a federal court order.

Attorneys with the National Immigrant Justice Center and ACLU of Illinois say federal agents have arrested thousands of people in Chicago and Illinois during Operation Midway Blitz without a warrant or probable cause.

Immigration advocates argue federal agents violated a court order issued in 2022. The Castañon Nava Consent Decree limits ICE from making arrests simply out of fear that a suspect might escape before a warrant can be obtained.

On Oct. 8, a federal court ruled to extend the consent decree until at least Feb. 2, 2026. In t

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