在周二与一名联邦法官的对峙中，美国海关和边境巡逻队无任所指挥官格雷格·博维诺(Greg Bovino)受到质疑，他和他的代理人在他们的行动中使用了人群控制策略移民执法在芝加哥。
当博维诺穿着制服出现在她面前时，伊利诺伊州北区美国地方法院的法官萨拉·埃利斯(Sara Ellis)命令他在当地时间每个工作日下午6点亲自与她会面，向她报告他在芝加哥牵头的移民活动。
这一命令是在博维诺在埃利斯的法庭上作证一个多小时后发出的，该案件主要涉及芝加哥联邦特工在“中途突击行动”(Operation Midway Blitz)期间使用的策略，这是特朗普政府始于9月的高调移民执法行动。
埃利斯在听证会开始时提醒博维诺，他们在担任公众角色之前都发过誓。
“我的作用不是告诉你，你可以或不可以执行国会通过的法律，”埃利斯说。
埃利斯计划周二举行听证会，审议原告提出的禁止联邦特工在芝加哥使用催泪瓦斯的请求，此前原告提出了多项违反法官本月发布的临时限制令(TRO)的指控。
埃利斯在听证会上说了大部分话，包括口头背诵她在10月9日首次发布的TRO的每一项条款，要求联邦特工在部署催泪瓦斯时至少发出两次提前警告。
法官在10月16日扩大了这一命令，包括要求配备随身相机的联邦特工在芝加哥的“执法活动”中佩戴并保持佩戴。
“我的作用只是看到，在执行这些法律时，你和你手下的特工以符合法律规定的义务的方式行事，这意味着它符合宪法。”
在听证会的前20分钟，埃利斯没有要求博维诺发言。相反，法官说她想仔细阅读TRO的每一项条款，以消除对条款的任何可能的误解。
“所以，我认为这真的是一个好主意，通过它来确保我们在同一页上，”埃利斯说。
埃利斯接着大声宣读了《TRO》的每一项条款，其中包括对记者和示威者使用武力的限制，对使用催泪瓦斯等防暴措施的限制，要求特工在制服上佩戴识别信息，并要求特工配备随身携带的摄像头，以便在执法活动中打开摄像头。
埃利斯指出，原告和公众已经提交了她最近几天拍摄的视频，这些视频似乎显示侵犯她的TRO，虽然她承认她没有所有的事实或每个事件的完整图片。
她说，“至少在我看到的视频上——我知道我不在那里，我不在街上——但我很难看出使用武力是必要的，以阻止对联邦特工身体伤害的立即和严重威胁”。
在向博维诺提出一个问题之前，埃利斯经历了原告在过去几天的法庭文件中提出的一系列涉嫌侵权的行为，包括周末发生的一起事件，在一个住宅区，当孩子们为万圣节游行做准备时，催泪瓦斯被部署-据称没有警告。
“穿着万圣节服装去游行的孩子不会构成直接威胁为了执法人员的安全。“他们就是不喜欢，”她说。你也不能对他们使用防暴武器。"
埃利斯接着谈到她的要求，即参与执法活动的特工必须在他们的制服上醒目地展示一个识别号码。埃利斯问博维诺，他给自己手下的特工下了什么指示。
博维诺说，他已经指示他的特工在制服的某个地方清楚地展示他们的识别号码，但他告诉法官，由于不同任务的装备不同，他无法在每个情况下具体指示特工在哪里放置号码。
博维诺同意指示代理人将他们的身份信息“放在显眼的位置，他们可以根据自己的各种工具包进行选择。”
埃利斯正在主持一场由记者和公民就芝加哥移民执法策略对联邦政府提起的诉讼。
原告认为，政府正在“为他们在芝加哥的存在和行为设计自己的借口”，通过“经常伤害只是抗议”移民执法行动的平民。
埃利斯还问博维诺，是否所有参与“中途岛闪电战”的大约200名CBP特工都按照她的TRO的要求，被发放了武器，并接受了佩戴在身上的摄像机的训练。
博维诺回答说“99%是这样的。”但他承认，一些从其他部门轮换过来的特工可能还没有装备好。
当埃利斯问博维诺本人是否有一台随身携带的相机时，博维诺回答说他没有。
“我还没有接受过佩戴式摄像机的训练，”博维诺说。
埃利斯指出，处于他这种位置的人应该能够很快拿到相机，并告诉他，她希望他在周五之前拿到一部相机。
“我们可以在周五之前拿到相机，”博维诺说。
该案件的原告声称，博维诺亲自参与了上周的一起事件，据称他在没有警告或正当理由的情况下向一群抗议者发射了催泪瓦斯。
国土安全部的一份声明称，在部署防暴措施之前，博维诺被抗议者投掷的石块击中头部。
埃利斯并没有要求博维诺对这一事件做出具体评论，但他指出，使用随身携带的摄像机对所有相关方都有好处。
“那个“相机是你的朋友，”埃利斯说如果有人朝你的头扔石头。摄像机会捕捉到它。如果有人在放烟花，摄像机就会捕捉到。"
随着埃利斯继续通过原告提出的涉嫌侵犯她的TRO，她告诉博维诺，她要求在部署催泪瓦斯之前发出警告，需要非常明确和具体，如果示威者不遵守执法部门的合理命令，将部署气体。
“在你做之前，警告必须包括你将要做什么，”埃利斯说。
法官问博维诺，他是否同意，从表面上看，这些事件表明她的TRO至少在某些情况下受到了侵犯。
博维诺表示，他没有掌握全部事实，没有更多信息无法给出答案。
“我相信每一种情况都取决于当时的情况。我想知道更多关于那些不同活动中发生的事情，”博维诺回答说。
就在让博维诺离开证人席之前，埃利斯问了博维诺两次“我们是否在同一页上?”
“我们在同一页上，”博维诺说，并补充说，“我们将遵守限制令和那里的所有装备。”
除了要求博维诺每天提交报告，法官还命令政府在周五之前提交所有使用武力的报告以及自9月2日行动开始以来的相应身体摄像机视频。
“我让你回去工作，”埃利斯为博维诺开脱时说，博维诺随后离开了法庭。
博维诺离开法庭后，埃利斯拒绝了原告的请求，即她要在她的TRO中增加一条临时禁令，禁止在芝加哥使用催泪瓦斯。
“我不知道我们会在下周看到大量的催泪瓦斯，”她说，并指出博维诺将在他的指挥下“每天6点钟”与她会面，告诉我发生了什么。
埃利斯强调，她并没有试图“束缚代理人的手”，但她说，她有“固有的权力来执行我的TRO。"
“我知道我的车道，”她说。“我会留在我的车道上。但我也不怕执行这个TRO。如果他们正在使用催泪瓦斯，他们最好能够备份。如果他们做不到，他们就会失去可以利用的东西。”
司法部律师克里斯托弗·林奇(Christopher Lynch)告诉法庭，政府反对她周二的裁决。
“特工们受到了威胁。这些都是紧急情况，”DOJ律师克里斯托弗·林奇说。“你看到了故事的一面，但只是故事的一面……是片面的，不完整的。”
埃利斯拒绝了DOJ要求她暂缓要求博维诺提交每日报告的请求。
Border Patrol chief ordered to meet with judge daily on Chicago immigration crackdown
In a face-off on Tuesday with a federal judge, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino came under questioning about the crowd-control tactics he and his agents are using in theirimmigration enforcementin Chicago.
With Bovino appearing before her dressed in uniform, Judge Sara Ellis of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ordered him to meet with her in person each weekday at 6 p.m. local time, to report to her on the immigration activities in Chicago that he is spearheading.
The order came after Bovino took the witness stand in Ellis’ courtroom for slightly over an hour in a case focused on the tactics used by federal agents in Chicago during "Operation Midway Blitz," the Trump administration’s high-profile immigration enforcement operation that began in September.
Ellis opened the hearing by reminding Bovino of the oaths they both took before assuming their public roles.
"My role is not to tell you that you can or cannot enforce validly passed laws by Congress,“ Ellis said.
Ellis scheduled Tuesday's hearing to consider a request by the plaintiffs to ban federal agents from using tear gas in Chicago after raising allegations of multiple violations of a temporary restraining order (TRO) the judge issued this month.
Ellis did the vast majority of the talking during the hearing, including an oral recitation of each provision of her TRO that she first issued on Oct. 9, requiring federal agents to issue at least two advanced warnings when deploying tear gas.
The judge expanded the order on Oct. 16 to include a requirement for federal agents equipped with body-worn cameras to wear them and keep them on during "law enforcement activities" in Chicago.
"My role is simply to see that in the enforcement of those laws that you and the agents operating under you are acting in a manner that is consistent with your obligations under the law, meaning that it is consistent with the Constitution."
For about the first 20 minutes of the hearing, Bovino was not asked by Ellis to speak. Rather, the judge said she wanted to go through each provision of her TRO to clear up any possible misunderstanding of its terms.
"So, I thought it would really be a good idea to go through it to make sure we are on the same page," Ellis said.
Ellis then read aloud each provision of the TRO, which includes restraints on the use of force on journalists and demonstrators, restrictions on the use of riot control measures like tear gas, requirements for the agents to wear identifying information on their uniforms, and mandates that agents be equipped with body-worn cameras to turn them on during enforcement activities.
Ellis noted that the plaintiffs and the public have submitted to her videos taken in recent days that appear to showviolations of her TRO, though she acknowledged she did not have all the facts or a complete picture of each incident.
"At least on the videos that I saw -- knowing that I am not there, I am not out in the street -- but it is difficult for me to see that the force being used is necessary to stop an immediate and serious threat” of physical harm to federal agents, she said.
Before posing a single question to Bovino, Ellis went through a series of alleged violations raised by the plaintiffs in court filings over the past several days, including an incident over the weekend in which tear gas was deployed -- allegedly without warning -- in a residential neighborhood as children were preparing for a Halloween parade.
"Kids dressed in Halloween costumes on the way to a parade do not pose an immediate threatto the safety of law enforcement officers. They just don't," she said. "And you can’t use riot control weapons against them."
Ellis then turned to her requirement that agents involved in enforcement activities conspicuously display an identifying number on their uniforms. Ellis asked Bovino what instructions he had given to the agents under his command.
Bovino said he had instructed his agents to clearly display their identifying number somewhere on their uniform, but told the judge that, because of the variance in equipment depending on the assignment, he was unable to instruct agents specifically in each instance where to place the number.
Bovino agreed to instruct agents to place their identifying information "in a conspicuous location that they can choose based on their various kits."
Ellis is presiding over a lawsuit brought by journalists and citizens against the federal government over the immigration enforcement tactics in Chicago.
The plaintiffs argue that the government is "engineering their own pretext for their presence and behavior in Chicago" by "regularly inflicting harm on civilians who are simply protesting" the immigration enforcement operation.
Ellis also asked Bovino if all of the approximately 200 CBP agents participating in Operation Midway Blitz had been issued and trained on body-worn cameras, as her TRO required.
Bovino replied that "99% do."But he acknowledged that some agents rotating in from other sectors may not yet be equipped.
When Ellis asked if Bovino himself had a body-worn camera, Bovino replied that he did not.
"I have not yet received a body-worn camera or the training," Bovino said.
Ellis noted that someone in his position should be able to get a camera issued to him quickly and told him she wanted him to get one by Friday.
"We can get a camera by Friday," Bovino said.
The plaintiffs in the case have alleged that Bovino was personally involved in one incident last week where he allegedly deployed tear gas toward a crowd of protestors, without warning or justification.
A Department of Homeland Security statement claimed that Bovino had been hit in the head with a rock thrown by protestors prior to the deployment of the riot control measures.
Bovino was not asked by Ellis to comment specifically on that incident, but noted that the use of body-worn cameras could be useful to all parties involved.
"Thecamera is your friend," Ellis said. "If someone is throwing a rock at your head.The camera is going to catch it.If someone is throwing fireworks, the camera is going to catch it."
As Ellis continued to tick through the alleged violations of her TRO raised by plaintiffs, she told Bovino that her requirement to issue warnings before deploying tear gas needs to be very clear and specific that gas will be deployed if demonstrators do not comply with reasonable commands from law enforcement.
"A warning has to include what it is that you’re going to do before you do it," Ellis said.
The judge asked Bovino if he agreed that the incidents, on their face, suggest that her TRO has been violated at least in some instances.
Bovino said he didn’t have all the facts and couldn’t give an answer without more information.
"I believe that each situation is dependent on the situation.I would like to know more about what happened in those various activities," Bovino replied.
Just before excusing Bovino from the witness stand, Ellis asked Bovino twice if "we on the same page?"
"We are on the same page," said Bovino, adding, "We will abide by the restraining order and all the accoutrements that are in there."
In addition to requiring daily reports from Bovino, the judge ordered the government to produce by Friday all use-of-force reports and corresponding body camera video going back to the onset of the operation on September 2.
“I’ll let you get back to work,” Ellis said, upon excusing Bovino, who then left the courtroom.
After Bovino left the courtroom, Ellis denied the plaintiffs' request that she add to her TRO a temporary ban on deployment of tear gas in Chicago.
"I don’t know that we're going to see a whole lot of tear gas being deployed over the next week,” she said, noting that Bovino would be meeting with her "every day at 6 to tell me what happened" under his command.
Ellis emphasized that she was not trying to "tie agents' hands" but said she has the "inherent power to enforce my TRO."
"I know my lane," she said. "And I will stay in my lane. But I'm also not afraid to enforce this TRO. If they are using tear gas, they better be able to back it up. And if they can’t, then they will lose that as something they can use."
An attorney for the Department of Justice, Christopher Lynch, told the court that the government objected to her rulings on Tuesday.
"The agents have been under threat. These have been exigent circumstances,” DOJ attorney Christopher Lynch said. “You have seen one side of the story, but only one side of the story … it is partial and incomplete."
Ellis declined a request from the DOJ to stay her order requiring Bovino’s daily reports.
