A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino does not have to appear daily in court to brief a federal judge on the latest uses of force in “Operation Midway Blitz” — at least for now.
The ruling from the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals came less than two hours before Bovino was set to appear before U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who told him on Tuesday to come in each weekday at 5:45 p.m. until at least Nov. 5 to address ongoing immigration enforcement actions.
On Wednesday afternoon, lawyers for the Department of Justice filed an emergency motion asking the 7th Circuit to stay Ellis’ order, saying it “significantly interferes with the quintessentially executive function of ensuring the Nation’s immigration laws are properly enforced by waylaying a senior executive official critical to that mission on a daily basis.”
“Absent a stay, the government will be irreparably harmed because Chief Bovino will be required to prepare and sit for questioning in open court today and every weekday thereafter, with no stated endpoint in sight,” the motion stated. “Every occasion that Chief Bovino is required to prepare and appear for those daily court sessions is time that he would otherwise spend carrying out the important law-enforcement functions he has been assigned.”
In a one-page order docketed at 3:47 p.m., the appellate court agreed to stay Ellis’ order temporarily while the issue is hashed out. The court ordered the plaintiffs in the underlying lawsuit to file a brief on the matter by 5 p.m. Thursday.
Meanwhile, as the appellate ruling came down, the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse was briefly on lockdown after someone made a bomb threat. For about a half an hour, no one was being allowed in or out of the building, and some courthouse employees said they were told to shelter in place.
Security officers with dogs were seen walking around the perimeter of the high-rise building, and at least one afternoon hearing — a plea change for Chester Wilson, a former aide to Ald. Carrie Austin charged with corruption — was delayed due to the situation.
Building security gave the “all clear” shortly after 4 p.m. It was not immediately clear if the threat was tied in any way to the controversy surrounding Bovino, whose appearance Tuesday sparked protests.
Ellis’ unusual request came as allegations have mounted that agents under Bovino’s command are indiscriminately throwing tear gas in Chicago neighborhoods and using inappropriate force against residents and reporters during protests over “Operation Midway Blitz,” the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration enforcement push.
During a remarkable hourlong session with Bovino on the witness stand Tuesday, Ellis also instructed the 30-year border patrol veteran to get his own body-worn camera and send her every use-of-force report — and accompanying bodycam footage — filed since the operation began nearly two months ago.
While she stopped short of finding any specific violations had occurred, Ellis had ordered Bovino to appear before her in open court at 5:45 p.m. each weekday to go over any uses of force from that day. The appearances would be required until at least Nov. 5, when Ellis is scheduled to hold a full hearing on a preliminary injunction.
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