A federal judge on Monday quashed a subpoena filed by the state Attorney General and city of Chicago in an ongoing lawsuit over the Trump administration’s immigration-enforcement tactics, saying it would be better to wait and see what’s left of the case after her upcoming ruling on a motion to dismiss.
The lawsuit filed earlier this year by both Illinois and Chicago alleges immigration agents acted more like an occupying military force than law enforcement during Operation Midway Blitz, terrorizing neighborhoods with “roving patrols,” illegally switching out license plates, randomly stopping people to question them about their citizenship, and making warrantless arrests.
As part of the litigation, lawyers for the plaintiffs had asked for a trove of records that had been produced in a similar case in California, including operational guidance from Department of Homeland Security supervisors during Operation At Large in Los Angeles, as well as text messages, emails and cellphone records from agents on the ground.
Lawyers for the Department of Justice have argued that the subpoena was overbroad and sought records that are still being contested as “privileged” in federal court in Los Angeles.
In her decision Monday to quash the subpoena, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said she was concerned that compiling the records would be overly burdensome without knowing how much of the lawsuit will be thrown out on a motion to dismiss. Her ruling on that motion is expected to come down on Nov. 17.
“It seems like we’re wading into a morass, and there are a lot of morasses out there already,” Ellis said. She stressed, however, that her order was without prejudice, meaning the plaintiffs are free to renew it after the ruling on dismissal is entered.
The lawsuit filed in January seeks a judicial order limiting the Trump administration’s deportation efforts here, including conducting immigration enforcement operations from “sensitive” areas such as schools, courthouses and hospitals, and limiting the use of “biometric” scanning of fingerprints and other personal information.
As part of the suit, Ellis has warned the government to preserve a large swath of potential evidence, including body camera footage, emails, texts and other communications. She’s been particularly concerned about employees no longer with the department, such as former Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino.
“I want to make sure that (Bovino) is aware that defendants have taken steps to ensure that, for example, his personal device … has been preserved,” Ellis said in a hearing last month.
Bovino, who was forced into retirement after agents under his command shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, has criticized Ellis on social media, both for her comments about his phone and her findings in a lawsuit last year that he had lied under oath.