A federal appeals court ended a judge's order requiring the head of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to provide daily in-person updates on an ongoing immigration crackdown in Chicago — and the government is now demanding that judge to be shamed.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, of the Northern District of Illinois, on Tuesday ordered Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino to appear in court each day at 5:45 p.m. to report on the agency's "use of force activities," which the appellate court struck down. Law & Crime reported the Trump administration was seeking a "potential judicial scolding."
"The DOJ responded Wednesday by calling on the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to at least issue a stay posthaste," the website reported. "The government said Ellis' 'extraordinary and extraordinarily burdensome' order was 'entered without any formal finding that the government failed to comply with prior court orders,' making it a 'clear abuse of discretion' that 'violates the separation of powers.'"
Ellis' order was issued as part of a civil lawsuit over "Operation Midway Blitz" accusing federal agents of "brutality" intended to "prevent the press, elected officials, religious leaders, and civilians engaged in peaceful protest from exercising their First Amendment rights" outside the Broadview ICE facility and elsewhere in Chicago.
"That unprecedented order interferes with Chief Bovino's ability to undertake his responsibilities, is unnecessary to secure compliance with the TRO, and is completely untethered to the claims and allegations underlying this lawsuit," the Department of Justice argued in its filing.
"Requiring a senior executive official to appear for daily questioning far exceeds the recognized bounds of discovery," DOJ added. "The order 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."
The appeals court keeps Bovino from having to appear daily before the judge, but now the appellate justices are considering whether to grant the Trump administration's request for "extraordinary" relief in the form of a writ of mandamus — a court order commanding the judge to perform a duty they are legally required to do.
"If mandamus follows, Ellis, a Barack Obama appointee, would be forced to vacate her own order for having been a 'clear abuse of discretion' or 'judicial usurpation,'" Law & Crime reported.