Cook County, Illinois, seems to have entered a full-blown state of insurrection against federal authority. In the wake of a federal judge contravening federal law and deciding that the president could not mobilize Illinois National Guard troops to protect U.S. property in Illinois, others have jumped on the bandwagon.
BACKGROUND:
The first strike was foreshadowed when Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was barred from entering Broadview City Hall, and Broadview Police Chief Thomas Mills said he would have ICE-erected crowd-control fencing and barriers removed because they were erected "without permits;" see Illinois City Bars DHS Secretary Noem From City Hall and Intends to Tear Down ICE-Installed Barricades – RedState.
Now Biden-appointed LaShonda Hunt has ordered the protective barriers around the Broadview ICE building removed. This is a move that seems calculated to increase violence and the probability of creating martyrs for the left, because there is no public good in the order. In a statement by Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino, it was acknowledged that the fences came down shortly before midnight Tuesday.
“We kept that fence up as long as we could—Up until the very last hour last night, that’s how important that fence was to us…” The fencing around the Broadview ICE facility was ordered removed by a judge—And @CMDROpAtLargeCA says while it won’t deter them from protecting the… pic.twitter.com/0plflWYw1P
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) October 15, 2025
We kept that fence up as long as we could—Up until the very last hour last night, that’s how important that fence was to us…
This is a situation in which I disagree with the Trump administration's policy of complying with all court orders, no matter how bizarre. The correct answer, in my opinion, was "Molon labe." This decision was an obvious political move that puts both law enforcement and protesters at increased risk. It doesn't deserve to be obeyed.
The last pieces of fencing had barely clattered to the pavement when a Cook County judge, I'll say that again slowly, a Cook County judge, barred ICE agents from making immigration arrests in all courthouses in Cook County, at courthouse entrances, on the sidewalks outside of courthouses, and in courthouse parking lots.
Cook County’s top judge has signed an order barring ICE from arresting people at courthouses. Cook County includes Chicago, which has seen a federal immigration crackdown in recent months.
Detaining residents outside court has been a common tactic for federal agents, who have been stationed outside county courthouses for weeks, making arrests and drawing crowds of protesters.
The order, which was signed Tuesday night and took effect Wednesday, bars the civil arrest of any “party, witness, or potential witness” while going to court proceedings. It includes arrests made inside courthouses and in parking lots, surrounding sidewalks and entryways.
“The fair administration of justice requires that courts remain open and accessible, and that litigants and witnesses may appear without fear of civil arrest,” the order states.
I'm not sure how this order is legal, given the whole Supremacy Clause thing in the U.S. Constitution, or how the judge thinks he can enforce such a ludicrous order. I suspect he knows he can't and is hoping ICE will, rightfully, ignore him so he can have a press conference and rant about "muh democracy."
I'm not sure the Trump administration's decision to play nice with the courts is going to work in the long run. As I pointed out in Federal Judges Blame Trump and SCOTUS for a Problem They Created; We Need to Fix It Now, federal judges are ignoring Supreme Court orders because there is no penalty for doing so. Even though the Ninth Circuit stopped Gavin Newsom's attempt to prevent deployment of the California National Guard (see Breaking: 9th Circuit Issues Stay Pending Appeal in CA National Guard Case, Handing Trump a Big Win – RedState), an Oregon judge has ignored that decision and blocked federalizing Oregon Guardsmen. Judge Hunt's reasoning on the Broadview fence is a classic example of working backwards from the decision in a pathetic, failing search for facts to support it.
If judges have decided to take sides and be political actors, they need to be treated as such.
At some point, the administration needs to say that rulings by district judges are cute and everything, but the process is so partisan and corrupt that it is only taking marching orders from Circuit Courts and the Supreme Court.
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