A federal judge has issued a sweeping opinion accusing the Department of Homeland Security of repeatedly misleading the public and providing false statements about its handling of anti-ICE protests in Illinois. The 233-page ruling, released Thursday by Judge Sara Ellis, supports a previously issued but now stayed injunction that limited federal tactics used during the demonstrations.
Politico reporter Josh Gerstein first noted the extraordinary length of the decision. Soon after, Chicago Tribune reporter Jason Meisner highlighted striking details within it. According to Meisner, Judge Ellis found that body camera footage showed an immigration agent using ChatGPT to “compile a narrative” for his official report about an encounter with protesters.
Meisner added that Judge Ellis sharply criticised U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino. She wrote that Bovino was “evasive” throughout his three-day deposition, offering “cute responses” or “outright lying” when questioned about DHS’s actions.
Aaron Reichlin Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, described the ruling as remarkable. “WOW. Judge Ellis finds that Chief Bovino gave ‘not credible’ testimony, stating that he ‘appeared evasive over the three days of his deposition, either providing ‘cute’ responses … or outright lying,’” he said. He noted that Bovino even denied tackling a protester despite the incident being clearly captured on video.
Reichlin Melnick said Judge Ellis is the first federal judge to review extensive body camera footage of DHS operations in Chicago. Her analysis, he said, showed that DHS “repeatedly misled the public and made claims that were disproven by agents’ own videos.”
One of the most glaring examples came from an October 28 DHS statement alleging that “rioters” had “shot at agents with commercial artillery shell fireworks,” which the agency claimed forced officers to deploy tear gas and riot munitions. Judge Ellis reviewed the footage and found the statement to be entirely false. The explosions heard at the scene were DHS’s own flashbangs.
Reichlin Melnick pointed to additional inaccuracies. DHS officials claimed protesters used shields embedded with nails. The videos revealed no such thing. Most of the shields were made of cardboard.
After laying out a long list of misleading statements and contradictions, Judge Ellis wrote that the pattern was impossible to ignore. At a certain point, she said, “it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to believe almost anything that [DHS] represent[s].”
Writer David French praised the thorough analysis and urged readers to review the findings, saying the administration’s conduct was “fundamentally dishonest.”
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