CHICAGO – In a significant development for those affected by the Trump-era immigration policies, hundreds detained in the Chicago area may soon be released on bond as they await their immigration hearings. This potential change was indicated by a federal judge on Wednesday.

During a court session in Chicago, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings announced his intention to mandate the release of 13 individuals currently detained. This decision aligns with a 2022 consent decree that defines the conditions under which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can perform arrests without warrants.

The judge further instructed government attorneys to review, by Friday, the cases of 615 detainees held in county jails and federal facilities across the country. The purpose is to determine if these individuals might qualify for release under the decree, using measures like ankle monitors instead of detention, as their immigration cases advance. Judge Cummings plans to issue an order for their release next week, and meanwhile, has put a temporary hold on deportation processes for those eligible for bond under the decree.

Lawyers representing the detainees have praised Judge Cummings’ decision as a significant victory and expressed their intention to pursue additional cases.

“ICE’s tactics have been unlawful in most of these arrests,” stated Mark Fleming, an attorney with the National Immigrant Justice Center based in Chicago.

Attorneys said they were racing against the clock, as many of the more than 3,300 people suspected of immigration violations who have been arrested in Chicago and its suburbs since “Operation Midway Blitz” began in September have already been deported or left of their own accord.

“We’re concerned they have no access to counsel and no understanding of what their situation is,” Fleming told the judge.

Will Weiland, a Justice Department attorney, told Cummings that at least 12 people on the list of 615 were “high risk” and shouldn’t be released into communities.

“Nothing has been easy with this case your honor,” he said.

Cummings previously determined that ICE had violated the consent decree which, among other things, requires the agency to show documentation for each arrest it makes for people besides those being specifically targeted in an operation.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Cummings listed instances since the crackdown started in which immigration agents have arrested people while they were at work, out walking or pulling through the drive-thru lane at a fast-food restaurant.

“It also seems highly unlikely to me that any of these foreign nationals … fall into the category of what ICE has called the ‘worst of the worst,’” he said.

The Trump administration has touted its federal intervention efforts as effective at fighting crime and applauded agents’ aggressive tactics that have been challenged in court. But leaders in Illinois say violent crime had already been trending downward in the Chicago area and that federal agents only inflamed tensions.

While the consent decree covers arrests by ICE, it doesn’t include U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which has been behind the most controversial tactics used during the immigration operation, including the liberal use of chemical agents.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both agencies, hasn’t offered details about its arrests, only highlighting a handful of people living in the country without legal permission who also had criminal histories. DHS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about Wednesday’s hearing.

The consent decree, which expired earlier this year, was extended until February. Although its policy on ICE’s warrantless arrests applies nationwide, remedies for individual cases have been focused in six states covered by the ICE field office in Chicago, where the original lawsuit over immigration sweeps was filed. Those states are Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Wisconsin.