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CHICAGO — Immigration advocates worry that President Donald Trump’s administration is using court delays to pressure people in federal custody to sign voluntary departure agreements.

But a nonprofit is using the latest pause to raise funds to help detained immigrants pay their bond amounts in full once they are eligible to do so.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday halted U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings’ order to release more than 400 people with no criminal history or prior removal orders on a $1,500 bond while he determines whether agents violated a consent decree governing warrantless immigration arrests. Arguments are set for Dec. 2.

“We have already seen such an incredible outpouring of support from the community. But we are trying to raise, frankly, an unprecedented amount of money for us as an organization to be able to get these people out,” said Alejandra Oliva, Midwest Immigration Bond Fund’s co-vice president. 

The nonprofit formed in 2020 by a coalition of attorneys to provide immigration bond-payment assistance to those detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Kentucky. 

The group and its allies launched their latest fundraising campaign — Midway to Freedom — Thursday. It’s aimed at helping those taken by federal immigration agents during the recent enforcement escalation reunite with their families and communities. 

“We need your support to do it. Please donate early, donate often,” Oliva said. 

Cummings’ order would have allowed the releases of at least 442 people arrested by ICE between June and Oct. 7 and who have not yet been deported or not deemed a public safety threat, according to court documents. 

It’s estimated that about 3,300 people were arrested by ICE and Border Patrol agents June 12-Oct. 7, according to numbers reported to court. 

“Our communities are angry at the unconstitutional abductions of our neighbors. And we’re organizing. … We’re furious at vicious bureaucrats like Gregory Bovino, coming to our neighborhood to generate fear and kidnappings just for a photo opportunity,” said Dave McDowell, a member of Lake County’s rapid response team.

McDowell is one of 90 volunteer rapid responders in Lake County and said he has seen federal agents drag a United States citizen out of a car behind suburban Waukegan’s Town Hall. He has also spotted agents standing in the parking lot of Warren Township High School after chasing two people into the school one morning, and agents targeting landscaping and construction crews. 

“Because of our work, we’ve been able to not only bear witness to the atrocities committed on our neighbors, but also document them for use as evidence in court,” McDowell said. “We know that ICE and the Border Patrol are violent liars with no regards to constitutional rights or court cases. And we know they will likely come back. But remember, Greg, we are angry. We are organizing. And we’re not going to stop fighting back to whatever is thrown against us.” 

But immigration advocates worry the Trump administration is seeking technical delays in court proceedings regarding the release of people its arrested, Fleming said.

“[Federal officials] seem to be able to throw all their resources at terrorizing people in the streets of Chicago, both citizen and non-citizen alike. But they seem not to have all the resources to actually do the paperwork to show that the arrests were lawful,” said Mark Fleming, the National Immigrant Justice Center’s associate director of litigation.

The Department of Homeland Security, ICE and Border Patrol did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Attorneys for those detained believe that federal agents have “violated the consent decree thousands of times” and are confident they’ll win in court. But each procedural delay from the Trump administration means another day people remain in conditions that could make them feel like their only way out of an immigration prison is by signing voluntary departure agreements, Fleming said. 

“Notice that at the 7th Circuit, they [federal officials] did not raise a single argument that they didn’t violate the consent decree. Rather, they raised only technical arguments that the court should not have jurisdiction to adjudicate them; or the individuals should not get the relief they’re deserved under the consent decree,” Fleming said. 

Because the Broadview ICE facility is supposed to be a processing center, detainees are only meant to be held there for a short period of time. By law, Illinois does not have federal immigration detention centers, so people taken to Broadview are eventually transferred out of state.

“That’s the urgency of this, and that’s why we need to get in front of the Seventh Circuit to explain why this interim relief is so important,” Fleming said. 

Many of the people who started their detention in Broadview have been taken to ICE’s North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, immigration advocates said. 

One such man is Tobias, 27, who was “violently arrested” by federal immigration agents outside a gas station in suburban Park City on Oct. 4 while eating breakfast in his work van. Tobias is a pseudonym and further identifying information was withheld to protect him and his family, said Immigration Law & Justice of Northern Illinois Attorney Ricardo Torres. 

“Without warning, two SUVs blocked him in. Multiple ICE agents in masks jumped out. They didn’t identify themselves. They didn’t have a warrant. They didn’t ask for consent to question him,” Torres said. 

Two federal agents tackled Tobias as he tried to flee, drove their knees into his back and pressed his head into the pavement, Torres said.

“There was no need for that level of force,” Torres said. “Tobias has no criminal record. Not here. Not in Honduras. Not even a parking ticket. But ICE agents acted as a law unto themselves.” 

Tobias has a pending asylum claim and has lived in the U.S. for 11 years. Before being arrested, he lived with his mother and sister in suburban Waukegan where he also supports his 5-year-old daughter, who is a U.S. Citizen. The family is struggling without his income, Torres said.  

“He’s never missed a check in or a court hearing,” Torres said. “He goes to church. He plays baseball. He works in construction. He should be home. Instead, he’s imprisoned because our government has created a deportation industrial complex that profits from human suffering.” 

Torres speaks to Tobias’ mother nearly every day and she’s typically in tears, feeling helpless about the situation their family is in. In recent weeks, Torres said he has seen Tobias’ mental and emotional wellbeing deteriorate. 

“He’s hanging in there. But it’s really tough when you’ve never been in prison, you’ve never broken the law. You’ve never even gotten a parking ticket, and you’re in prison, like it’s just surreal,” Torres said. 

Happening In Chicago

• ICE agents were spotted a block away near Laura S. Ward Elementary School, 646 N. Lawndale Ave. in West Humboldt Park Friday morning, according to neighbors and teachers in the area Block Club spoke to. It’s unclear if anyone was detained.
• Federal immigration agents arrested one person around 7:30 a.m. Friday near the intersection of Kenmore and Balmoral, according to the Northside Lakefront rapid response team.

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November 21, 2025 at 03:39PM