LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Chicagoans opposed to President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration campaign are taking his administration to court and winning so far.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
This week, there's been hours of testimony, as one federal judge listened to accounts about citizens' jarring encounters with federal agents. And another judge ordered the administration to improve the conditions at an immigration holding facility in a Chicago suburb.
FADEL: Jon Seidel with Chicago Public Media and the Chicago Sun-Times has been covering this and is with me now. Good morning.
JON SEIDEL, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: So these legal fights have been going on for over a month. In what ways has the city prevailed?
SEIDEL: Well, last month, a federal judge in Chicago ruled against Trump's efforts to deploy National Guard troops here. And another judge limited federal agents' use of force against protesters and required a senior official to actually sit for a lengthy deposition. And now that judge, Sara Ellis, is preparing to rule on what's called a preliminary injunction. It would basically extend the order she issued last month that governs agents' use of force here.
FADEL: Now, Judge Ellis held a hearing yesterday in order to make that decision. What was the testimony like?
SEIDEL: Yeah. She presided over an eight-hour hearing Wednesday. She heard from a woman who said she found herself staring down the barrel of a gun just for filming the arrest of day laborers. The judge heard from a pastor who said he was shot in the head by pepper balls while praying outside a holding facility. And the judge heard the video testimony of U.S. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, who's become the public face of this campaign. He said the use of force here has been, quote, "more than exemplary." And now Judge Ellis says she plans to hand down her ruling today.
FADEL: Oh. Tell us more about Bovino.
SEIDEL: Bovino came here from California where he led Operation At Large. That led to a very controversial ruling by the Supreme Court which allowed agents in that operation to continue stopping people based on factors like race and language. Bovino was accused last month of throwing tear gas into a crowd in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood without justification. Federal authorities say he did so while being confronted by a hostile mob. They even said he'd been hit in the head with a rock, but attorneys told Judge Ellis yesterday that Bovino finally admitted he threw the tear gas before the rock entered the picture. Bovino's deposition was conducted privately, and we're waiting to see how much of it becomes public.
FADEL: Now, we mentioned the ruling about an immigration facility. What is happening in that one?
SEIDEL: That's right. Judge Robert Gettleman presided over a similar hearing Tuesday. That one revolved around the conditions inside this holding center in suburban Broadview. It's where most people arrested by immigration agents find themselves being held, at least for a short while. Until this summer, the facility hadn't been intended as a long-term holding center. But Gettleman heard that people are being held there for days at a time, 100 to 150 people to a cell. They often have nowhere to sleep but the floor, he was told, and many are sleeping near a dirty toilet. Though it's long been considered a detention or processing center, Judge Gettleman said it seems more like a prison. And Wednesday, he ordered that people held there should all be given clean bedding and a mat, that each holding room should be cleaned at least twice a day, and that everyone should be given adequate supplies of soap, towels, toilet paper and other hygiene products.
FADEL: Jon Seidel with Chicago Public Media and the Chicago Sun-Times. Jon, thank you for your reporting.
SEIDEL: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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