Judge orders daily meetings with border official

A judge on Tuesday ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to meet her each evening to discuss the government's immigration crackdown in the Chicago area, an extraordinary step following weeks of street confrontations, tear gas volleys and complaints of excessive force.

- BY CHRISTINE FERNANDO

SENIOR BORDER PATROL official Greg Bovino leaves federal court in Chicago. Bovino has led immigration enforcement operations in Chicago and Los Angeles.

(KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI AFP/Getty Images)

“Yes, ma’am,” responded Greg Bovino, who has become the face of the Trump administration’s immigration sweeps in America’s big cities.

Bovino got an earful from U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis as soon as he settled into the witness chair in his green uniform.

Ellis quickly expressed concerns about video and other images from an illegal immigration drive that has produced more than 1,800 arrests since September. The hearing is the latest in a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who say agents have used too much force, including tear gas, during demonstrations.

“My role is not to tell you that you can or cannot enforce validly passed laws by Congress. ... My role is simply to see that in the enforcement of those laws, the agents are acting in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution,” the judge said.