From Newsweek,
ICE agents can be arrested over unlawful actions, Chicago judge rules.
To be clear, the judge in question is a federal district judge, not a local one.
A federal court in Chicago has ordered sweeping new limits on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the Midwest, ruling that agents repeatedly violated federal law and a binding consent decree by arresting people without warrants.
Which federal laws did they violate? It turns out to be, not a law, but some Biden-era agreement not to enforce federal immigration laws.
Apparently, this federal judge intends to prosecute individual ICE officers. Newsweek writes,
She added that so far, no prosecutions have been reported under the new order, partly due to the broader federal court slowdown, but said the decision itself “sets an important precedent for how power is exercised in the name of public safety.”
Here’s how I understand the system to work. U.S. Attorneys–appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate–bring criminal cases against defendants. Judges then preside over cases as prosecutors and defense lawyers duke it out.
U.S. Attorneys can, and do, bring cases against individual immigration officers when they break the law. But judges do not have the power of arrest. Judges cannot file cases against defendants.
The world gone mad.
