The Trump administration has released the names of more than 600 people detained by immigration agents, and whose arrests might have violated a court order, and only 16 of them have been identified by the federal government as a "high public safety risk" because of their alleged criminal histories, according to court documents.
The list includes names, country of citizenship and whether they've been deported, remain in custody or voluntarily deported.
The list is topped by 16 people deemed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a "high public safety risk" because of their alleged criminal histories. Charges include aggravated assault, aggravated DUI, domestic battery and kidnapping. One person was deemed a national security risk, and another was identified as a "foreign criminal," but no details were given.
The government was required to provide the list in court as a judge prepares to potentially release most of those people by next Friday, because their arrests potentially violated the terms of a court order restricting warrantless arrests.
The disclosure comes as sources said U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino left Chicago on Thursday, following two months of controversial enhanced immigration enforcement efforts under Operation Midway Blitz.
Sources said Bovino could be on his way to Charlotte, North Carolina.
"I'm actually in West Virginia now, undergoing training with several hundred Border Patrol agents, and you're going to see us redeploy to … it could be a New York, it could be a Chicago, it could be a Charlotte," Bovino said in an interview on FOX News.
Bovino mentioned Chicago as a possible Border Patrol target, referencing the 614 people a federal judge ordered be released on bond from ICE detention by next Friday, while the court determines if federal agents violated a court order by arresting them. That court order prohibits warrantless arrests without probable cause.
The judge who ordered those people's release conceded there might be some people on that list who are a flight risk or public safety threat, and has asked the government to identify those people.
"We're going to go even harder on the streets. If he releases those 650, we're going to apprehend 1,650 on the streets of Chicago," Bovino said on FOX News.
Meanwhile, 13 other people detained by ICE have been ordered released from custody on Friday, after a federal judge affirmed their rights had been violated when they were arrested.
Sources said those people have been scattered across detention facilities around the country.
The Department of Homeland Security has said more than 3,300 people have been arrested during the ongoing immigration enforcement effort in the Chicago area, Operation Midway Blitz.
Meantime, it has been two weeks since Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she could provide a full list of names of people detained during Operation Midway Blitz.
A federal judge is also waiting on the same list, but Homeland Security has yet to make that list public.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who has issued a preliminary injunction limiting immigration agents' use of force in Chicago, is planning to hold a hearing in March on whether to make that injunction permanent, ahead of when more Border Patrol agents might return to the area.
If you know somebody on this list and have additional facts or details to share about their experience, we'd like to talk to you. You can email CBS News Chicago at [email protected].
Very small percentage of more than 600 arrested by ICE in Chicago have criminal histories
Very small percentage of more than 600 arrested by ICE in Chicago have criminal histories
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