It never ceases to drive me up the wall that the courts themselves are not following the law! I first wrote about this two years ago, discussing how the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts had dragged its feet on mandatory data collection. There is still so much data we don't have!

NEW: When Aliya Rahman’s lawyers approached her about filing a complaint with the civil rights office of the Department of Homeland Security, she almost laughed in their faces. Today, she filed that complaint anyway. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Rahman told me yes, it's hard to imagine DHS taking her complaint seriously as “we’re watching them unconstitutionally violate everybody’s rights.” But that doesn't mean you do nothing. "I think one way that our rights get eroded is when we give up on having them." www.huffpost.com/entry/aliya-...

JUST IN: Aliya Rahman, the Minneapolis woman whose image went viral after ICE agents inexplicably dragged her out of her car on her way to a doctor’s appointment, just hit DHS with a federal complaint alleging its officers violated disability and human rights laws. www.huffpost.com/entry/aliya-...

In April, Rahman filed a tort claim against DHS, claiming the incident resulted in torn tendons and cartilage in both shoulders, a concussion and PTSD.

On January 13, ICE agents detained Rahman as she tried to drive to a doctor’s appointment, punching out the window of her car and carrying her by her arms and legs, ignoring her requests for mobility and communication aids.

DHS still has a civil rights team. Aliya Rahman is testing it. The disabled US citizen was violently jailed by ICE agents—so she’s going to their “internal adversaries.”

NEW: MacArthur Justice Center submitted a civil rights complaint on behalf of Aliya Rahman to the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Office of DHS for the brutal assault, violent arrest, and inhumane detention she experienced at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis earlier this year.

The Supreme Court's third opinion is Landor. The supermajority deals a 6–3 blow to religious liberty and congressional power, holding that spending clause legislation cannot create a damages remedy against officials who violate a federal directive. Huge decision. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

NEW: Taking up a case that could further erode the rights of people to sue federal officers for constitutional violations, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider whether a prison inmate could sue a nurse for failing to provide medical assistance after a riot. www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...

Inmates may not sue prison officials who violate their religious rights, Supreme Court rules

More of Illinois has access to electronic monitoring than ever before. But does it work?

for what it’s worth, trans women in a federal case I’m covering have been denied their hormones while being held in men’s facilities under federal charges. I feel like cis people don’t realize that this is happening at all

The suit's plaintiffs are being repped by attorneys with the MacArthur Justice Center, who claimed in a press release today that the defendants are "undermining the goals of organizations like the Better Government Association and Radical Hospitality Ministries and leaving the public in the dark."

A family is seeking help after their father, who is Venezuelan, was arrested by ICE at a courthouse. He's been deported, leaving his wife to care for their three children alone. blockclubchi.co/4wfbFxF

New: A new lawsuit filed today in Cook County against multiple IL court clerk offices and sheriffs, seeks to compel greater data transparency regarding Illinois' Pretrial Fairness Act. "Defendants are intentionally flouting a legislative mandate" to ensure that transparency, the complaint claims.

Today, the MacArthur Justice Center sued on behalf of the Better Government Association and Radical Hospitality Ministries demanding data transparency around the implementation and impact of the Pretrial Fairness Act. Read more about the case here: www.macarthurjustice.org/case/better-...

The Court Access, Safety and Participation Act is supposed to create a "privilege from civil arrest" for those attending state court proceedings, with violators on the hook for up to $10K in damages. But good luck finding the masked ICE agent who arrested you in violation of the act to sue them.

this is in line with increased ice abductions across chicagoland in recent weeks. good read from @unraveledpress.com:

“Daphy was a person with a kind heart who loved her family very much." Daphy Michel, a 31-year-old Haitian asylum seeker, was found dead of hypothermia at a Pittsburgh bus stop on March 2, three days after being released from ICE custody 30 miles from her home.

It's been remarkable seeing the Department of Justice transform, in very substantive ways, into an extension of the Department of Homeland Security. Feels practically like ICE's private law firm at this point

New: We've been tracking reports of ICE activity across Chicagoland for five weeks. In that time, rapid responders have seen an escalation as feds have abducted dozens, caused at least two car crashes, threatened community members with weapons and flouted state courthouse protections. Read more:

NEW: The Supreme Court will consider whether there are constitutional limits to mandatory detention — without bond — for some ICE detainees with criminal records. www.politico.com/news/2026/06...

$70 billion for ICE. Meanwhile, people will be losing their Medicaid and SNAP benefits.

Still sends me that there are people who have spent lifetimes and careers trying to expose US-backed atrocities, and meanwhile this guy just comes out and goes, "USA, we're the #1 warcimes champ" with his full chest

BREAKING: We filed a lawsuit to demand that ICE, CBP, UCSIS, and DHS release records about targeting people who film federal agents in public. The First Amendment protects our right to record law enforcement activity.

Today, the MacArthur Justice Center & ACLU filed a FOIA lawsuit against DHS, ICE, CBP, and USCIS demanding the disclosure of policies and documents relating to practices of targeting and physically retaliating against people who film federal agents on the streets in public.

MJC attorney Danielle Berkowsky on @abc7chicago.bsky.social discussing ICE ending a Biden-era policy that required the agency to report the deaths of former detainees that occurred within 30 days of their release from federal custody. Watch here: abc7chicago.com/post/us-immi...

As protests inside and outside of Delaney Hall continue into their second week, officials are vying over the future of the privately-run ICE detention center in New Jersey. The converted prison “should be closed because of health and human safety,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said.

New: Regretful cities are literally covering their Flock cameras with black trash bags because they cannot figure out how to immediately exit their surveillance contracts or get the cameras taken down: www.404media.co/cities-are-c...

We found cases in which Cook County prosecutors knew someone was in ICE custody and still requested a warrant when that person failed to show up to traffic court. Advocates argue it’s a violation of defendants’ due process rights. (Co-published with @chicagoreader.com)

NEW: DOJ's fight against trans medical care in prison is a fight to erase trans people in the law. "The pendulum has swung," DOJ's Jared Littman said in a court hearing Wednesday, arguing that all transgender people — at all ages — can be denied needed medical care. Today, at Law Dork:

NEW: Another dive into our database of now more than 12,000 rulings on ICE’s mass detention push: a look at the judges who have fueled the overwhelming rebuke. w/ brilliant data journalist and colleague @jtblaeser.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2026/05...

from the moment it was founded activists and human rights watchdogs have warned that DHS was constructed to be an almost unaccountable private paramilitary force at the president's sole disposal.

The system working as intended. They want to push trans youth to either leave the state or take their own lives. Idaho got both outcomes here and now the lawsuit against them has to be dismissed.

Last summer, an incarcerated woman in Missouri had a hot flash while we were on the phone. Since then, I've been talking to people around the country about what it's like to go through perimenopause and menopause in prison. Here's the result, co-published by @themarshallproject.org and @19thnews.org

The proper headline here is CHARGES DISMISSED DUE TO DOJ MISCONDUCT www.cnn.com/2026/05/21/u...

Last September, federal immigration agents raided an apartment complex on Chicago's south side, rounding up dozens, including children. I spoke with one of the raid's victims, now living in Mexico, on seeking what justice he can from the government. My latest, for @southsideweekly.bsky.social

NEW: Immigrants Detained in Chicago Military-Style Raid Seek Millions in Damages New accounts from 17 men, women and children who have filed formal claims after being detained in a late-night raid paint a violent and terrifying portrait of the federal agents’ actions.

1/ Last fall, as we were interviewing immigrants detained during a dramatic immigration raid at an apartment complex in Chicago, we kept hearing about a Nigerian man whose leg was mauled by a police dog. 🧵:

BREAKING: Immigrants detained in the notorious Chicago apartment raid last fall have filed claims against the federal government for trauma, injuries and lost property. The 18 tenants, including children, are seeking $5 million each. www.propublica.org/article/chic...

advocates argue the aggressive prosecution and detention of people facing low-level charges effectively undermines reforms meant to reduce the number of people jailed pretrial. as one lawyer put it, “she has been directly going against the spirit of the law.” chicagoreader.com/news/reader-...

“We should not live in a country where the federal govt. can use violations of the Constitution as propaganda and get away with it,” said Jonathan Manes of the MacArthur Justice Center. “This raid was a nightmare turned into reality. It put federal agents’ abuse of power on full display...”

The raid, which was led by then-Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino, was one of the most shocking episodes during the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz.

Federal immigration agents have been increasingly showing up at courthouses across Chicagoland since late February. Per a May 1st internal Cook County report I reviewed, one fed indicated he was "conducting surveillance" at the Domestic Violence Court in Chicago. My latest for @unraveledpress.com:

NEW: We've spent 10 months tracking the outcomes in tens of thousands of lawsuits brought by ICE detainees amid an unprecedented detention push. It's not a cose call: judges have ruled more than 10,000 times against ICE, a 9-1 ratio. See the database: www.politico.com/news/2026/05...

NEW: The 6th Circuit becomes the third federal appeals court to reject ICE’s mass detention push that targets people who have lived in the U.S. for years without criminal records. www.politico.com/news/2026/05...

The legality of the Trump administration’s policy of detaining everyone arrested by immigration enforcement officials – allowing no bond hearings – is splitting federal appellate courts and may wind up before the Supreme Court. #immigration #trump #Bonds #courts www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Texas authorities are using license plate readers to track immigrants and even investigate abortions. A few cities have rejected surveillance cameras, but networks are already immense. #privacy #immigration @candicebernd.bsky.social @texasobserver.org www.texasobserver.org/license-plat...

Operation Metro Surge changed how Minnesotans show up for one another. We’ve built deeper connections and community networks. But, what happens next? 🧵