{"id":136237,"date":"2025-11-03T17:43:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T01:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/11\/03\/seventh-circuit-loosens-oversight-on-border-patrol-with-predictably-terrible-results\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T17:43:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T01:43:08","slug":"seventh-circuit-loosens-oversight-on-border-patrol-with-predictably-terrible-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/11\/03\/seventh-circuit-loosens-oversight-on-border-patrol-with-predictably-terrible-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Seventh Circuit Loosens Oversight On Border Patrol With Predictably Terrible Results"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis isn\u2019t pleased<\/a> with U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino. Bovino heads the Trump administration\u2019s military presence in Chicago, Operation Midway Blitz, and there were some pretty serious allegations (and video!) that federal agents \u2014 and Bovino, specifically \u2014 violated a temporary restraining order issued by Ellis. A group of journalists, protesters, and clergy sued the Trump administration\u00a0over the military occupation of Chicago, and Ellis issued a TRO limiting the tactics federal agents can use. Amongst the banned methods of riot control include the use of tear gas and other kinds of noxious gas unless there is an immediate safety threat. But then Bovino was caught on camera throwing canisters of tear gas into a crowd without any warnings or verbal orders to disperse.<\/p>\n

Ellis did what she could at a subsequent hearing<\/a> \u2014 that she demanded Bovino attend \u2014 to impress upon him the importance of, you know, *not* violating a court order. Judge Ellis was (rightfully) particularly concerned with the use of tear gas without appropriate warnings since it affected kids dressed in Halloween costumes, headed to a nearby parade. And Ellis ordered Bovino provide daily reports on his agents\u2019 use of force in the city.<\/p>\n

But that oversight never happened, thanks to the Seventh Circuit<\/a>. In an unsigned order, they found the daily check-ins with Bovino meant\u00a0Ellis was an \u201cinquisitor\u201d not a \u201cneutral adjudicator.\u201d And that the order made Ellis \u201csupervisor of Chief Bovino\u2019s activities, intruding into personnel management decisions of the executive branch.\u201d As a result, the circuit court held, \u201cThese two problems are related and lead us to conclude that the order infringes on the separation of powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

So\u2026 how\u2019s the lack of oversight going?<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

In Chicago, a Halloween weekend of immigration arrests and violence https:\/\/t.co\/4uTUnSP6Fc<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Victor Nieblas (@VictorNieblas) November 3, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Fucking fantastic. <\/p>\n

Listen, even if the Seventh Circuit hadn\u2019t laughed off the notion of oversight on bad faith actors with a demonstrated lack of respect for court orders, it\u2019s likely this all would still have happened. Because, you know, bad faith actors with a demonstrated lack of respect for court orders. But the nation is spiraling towards authoritarianism, and Ellis\u2019s order feels less like a separation of powers problem than a necessary check and balance.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Seventh Circuit Loosens Oversight On Border Patrol With Predictably Terrible Results<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis isn\u2019t pleased<\/a> with U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino. Bovino heads the Trump administration\u2019s military presence in Chicago, Operation Midway Blitz, and there were some pretty serious allegations (and video!) that federal agents \u2014 and Bovino, specifically \u2014 violated a temporary restraining order issued by Ellis. A group of journalists, protesters, and clergy sued the Trump administration\u00a0over the military occupation of Chicago, and Ellis issued a TRO limiting the tactics federal agents can use. Amongst the banned methods of riot control include the use of tear gas and other kinds of noxious gas unless there is an immediate safety threat. But then Bovino was caught on camera throwing canisters of tear gas into a crowd without any warnings or verbal orders to disperse.<\/p>\n

Ellis did what she could at a subsequent hearing<\/a> \u2014 that she demanded Bovino attend \u2014 to impress upon him the importance of, you know, *not* violating a court order. Judge Ellis was (rightfully) particularly concerned with the use of tear gas without appropriate warnings since it affected kids dressed in Halloween costumes, headed to a nearby parade. And Ellis ordered Bovino provide daily reports on his agents\u2019 use of force in the city.<\/p>\n

But that oversight never happened, thanks to the Seventh Circuit<\/a>. In an unsigned order, they found the daily check-ins with Bovino meant\u00a0Ellis was an \u201cinquisitor\u201d not a \u201cneutral adjudicator.\u201d And that the order made Ellis \u201csupervisor of Chief Bovino\u2019s activities, intruding into personnel management decisions of the executive branch.\u201d As a result, the circuit court held, \u201cThese two problems are related and lead us to conclude that the order infringes on the separation of powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

So\u2026 how\u2019s the lack of oversight going?<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

In Chicago, a Halloween weekend of immigration arrests and violence https:\/\/t.co\/4uTUnSP6Fc<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Victor Nieblas (@VictorNieblas) November 3, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Fucking fantastic. <\/p>\n

Listen, even if the Seventh Circuit hadn\u2019t laughed off the notion of oversight on bad faith actors with a demonstrated lack of respect for court orders, it\u2019s likely this all would still have happened. Because, you know, bad faith actors with a demonstrated lack of respect for court orders. But the nation is spiraling towards authoritarianism, and Ellis\u2019s order feels less like a separation of powers problem than a necessary check and balance.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Seventh Circuit Loosens Oversight On Border Patrol With Predictably Terrible Results<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis isn\u2019t pleased with U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino. Bovino heads the Trump administration\u2019s military presence in Chicago, Operation Midway Blitz, and there were some pretty serious allegations (and video!) that federal agents \u2014 and Bovino, specifically \u2014 violated a temporary restraining order issued by Ellis. A group of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":136238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-UziqQs.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}