🔗 Share this article US Immigration Officers in the Windy City Ordered to Use Body Cameras by Judge's Decision A federal judge has mandated that federal agents in the Chicago area must utilize recording devices following numerous situations where they deployed projectiles, smoke devices, and chemical agents against demonstrators and law enforcement, seeming to disregard a previous court order. Court Frustration Over Enforcement Tactics US District Judge Sara Ellis, who had previously required immigration agents to display identification and prohibited them from using riot-control techniques such as chemical agents without warning, voiced considerable frustration on Thursday regarding the DHS's persistent heavy-handed approaches. "My home is in Chicago if folks were unaware," she remarked on Thursday. "And I'm not blind, am I wrong?" Ellis further stated: "I'm receiving pictures and observing pictures on the television, in the paper, reading accounts where I'm having apprehensions about my order being followed." Broader Context This latest mandate for immigration officers to employ body cameras occurs while Chicago has become the most recent epicenter of the national leadership's immigration enforcement push in recent times, with forceful agency operations. At the same time, community members in Chicago have been coordinating to prevent apprehensions within their communities, while DHS has characterized those actions as "unrest" and declared it "is using appropriate and constitutional steps to maintain the justice system and defend our officers." Specific Events Earlier this week, after federal agents initiated a car chase and caused a car crash, protesters shouted "You're not welcome" and hurled projectiles at the agents, who, seemingly without notice, deployed tear gas in the area of the demonstrators – and multiple Chicago police officers who were also on the scene. In another incident on Tuesday, a concealed officer cursed at demonstrators, commanding them to back away while holding down a 19-year-old, Warren King, to the ground, while a bystander yelled "he has citizenship," and it was unknown why King was being apprehended. Recently, when lawyer Samay Gheewala sought to request personnel for a warrant as they arrested an immigrant in his neighborhood, he was forced to the sidewalk so hard his palms were bleeding. Public Effect Additionally, some neighborhood students ended up forced to remain inside for break time after irritants filled the roads near their playground. Parallel reports have been documented across the country, even as ex immigration officials warn that arrests seem to be non-selective and broad under the demands that the Trump administration has imposed on agents to remove as many people as possible. "They appear unconcerned whether or not those individuals pose a threat to societal welfare," a former official, a former acting Ice director, remarked. "They merely declare, 'Without proper documentation, you qualify for removal.'"