🔗 Share this article Federal Enforcement Officers in the Windy City Ordered to Wear Recording Devices by Judicial Ruling An American court has ordered that immigration officers in the Chicago region must use body-worn cameras following numerous incidents where they used chemical irritants, smoke grenades, and irritants against crowds and city officers, seeming to contravene a previous judicial ruling. Court Displeasure Over Enforcement Tactics US District Judge Sara Ellis, who had earlier ordered immigration agents to display identification and forbidden them from using dispersal tactics such as chemical agents without notice, showed significant displeasure on Thursday regarding the Department of Homeland Security's continued heavy-handed approaches. "I reside in this city if individuals haven't noticed," she stated on Thursday. "And I can see clearly, correct?" Ellis continued: "I'm seeing pictures and observing images on the television, in the publication, examining reports where I'm having apprehensions about my order being followed." National Background The recent directive for immigration officers to wear body-worn cameras comes as Chicago has emerged as the most recent center of the federal government's mass deportation campaign in recent weeks, with forceful agency operations. At the same time, locals in Chicago have been mobilizing to prevent apprehensions within their communities, while federal authorities has labeled those actions as "unrest" and stated it "is taking reasonable and legal measures to support the legal system and defend our personnel." Specific Events Recently, after immigration officers led a vehicle pursuit and caused a multi-car collision, demonstrators shouted "You're not welcome" and threw objects at the officers, who, apparently without notice, threw tear gas in the area of the demonstrators – and 13 city police who were also on the scene. In another incident on Tuesday, a masked agent shouted expletives at demonstrators, instructing them to back away while restraining a young adult, Warren King, to the ground, while a witness yelled "he's a citizen," and it was unclear why King was being detained. Over the weekend, when lawyer Samay Gheewala tried to demand personnel for a court order as they arrested an immigrant in his community, he was forced to the ground so hard his hands were bleeding. Community Impact At the same time, some area children were obliged to be kept inside for recess after chemical agents permeated the area near their school yard. Comparable accounts have surfaced nationwide, even as previous immigration officials advise that apprehensions look to be non-selective and comprehensive under the demands that the federal government has imposed on agents to remove as many individuals as possible. "They show little regard whether or not those persons pose a threat to community security," a former official, a previous agency leader, remarked. "They just say, 'If you lack legal status, you're a fair target.'"