* Subscribers were told about this earlier today. Tribune…

A Chicago federal judge has extended a nationwide consent decree requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to better document and report probable cause for immigration arrests and found the agency repeatedly violated the 2022 agreement by making “warrantless arrests” both before and during “Operation Midway Blitz.”

In his 52-page ruling, which has implications for immigration-enforcement operations across the country, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings said ICE had improperly told its field offices over the summer that the consent decree had been canceled.

He also called into question the recent immigration raid on an apartment building in South Shore, where agents in military gear burst through doors and zip-tied residents regardless of citizenship.

And the judge also took particular issue with a practice by ICE agents of carrying blank warrant forms known as I-200s with them on missions and filling them out at the scene.

The plaintiffs argued the blank warrants were a way for ICE to circumvent the requirement that agents have probable cause someone is a flight risk before making a so-called “collateral arrest,” meaning detaining someone without a prior written warrant. Cummings agreed, writing in his opinion “ICE lacked statutory and regulatory authority to engage in its policy of issuing I-200 warrants to collaterals in the field.”

* NBC…

Some 500 National Guard members have arrived in the Chicago area and are mobilized for an initial period of 60 days, despite an ongoing lawsuit challenging their deployment there, according to a statement Wednesday morning from U.S. Northern Command, a part of the Defense Department.

About 200 members from multiple units in the Texas National Guard and some 300 members from multiple units in the Illinois National Guard have been activated and sent to Chicagoland, the statement said.

…Adding… ABC Chicago’s Rob Elgas…

Texas National Guard troops are expected to be deployed to the Broadview ICE processing center Wednesday evening, law enforcement sources tell the ABC 7 I-Team.

The Illinois National Guard Joint Force Headquarters was informed on Tuesday that the Texas National Guard will provide security for the Broadview ICE facility starting Wednesday “evening,” but no further details were provided.

The Illinois National Guard Public Affairs Office referred all questions about the deployment to the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM).

“Since this a federal activation, troops are placed on Title 10 orders and fall under NORTHCOM,” an Illinois National Guard spokesperson told the I-Team via email.

NORTHCOM did not respond to the I-Team’s questions about the Broadview deployment.

* Crain’s…

The state and city will square off against the U.S. government in court tomorrow to decide the question whether the Trump administration has the authority deploy troops in the Chicago area.

The result could determine whether and when National Guard troops that started gathering near Joliet yesterday begin showing up on the streets here. The courtroom showdown is the latest escalation in a long-running feud between President Donald Trump and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson. […]

U.S. District Judge April Perry gave the Department of Justice until midnight tonight to respond to the state’s request for a temporary restraining order to stop the deployment, but a similar dispute in Portland, Ore., offers clues about how the government will respond.

Over the weekend, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut in Oregon ruled that Trump doesn’t have the authority to deploy the National Guard in Portland, much as he’s doing here. It was the second time a federal judge has said the administration’s planned deployment of troops to a U.S. city is illegal.

* Background is here and here. From the Ted Dabrowski campaign…

Dr. Carrie Mendoza, a Jewish mother of three and GOP candidate for Lt. Governor running with Ted Dabrowski, released the following statement in response to Gov. Pritzker’s persistence in comparing Republicans to Nazis:

“Gov. Pritzker should really be ashamed of himself for continuing to use this ahistorical, incendiary rhetoric and compounding the shamefulness of it with unfounded conspiracy theories about the 2026 elections. In a polarized political climate where police officers have been the targets of politically-inspired violence that sometimes, as in the case of the shooting at the ICE facility in Dallas, has taken the lives of migrants, a responsible political leader would tone down their rhetoric and appeal to people’s better angels. Gov. Pritzker has chosen to be irresponsible.”

“The Nazi comparison is particularly offensive against the backdrop of our observation this week of the 2nd anniversary of the 10/7 terrorist attack where actual fascists murdered 1,195 Israelis including 38 children, and continue to hold 48 hostages. In the newly released memoir by hostage Eli Sharabi, he recounts his torture and starvation at the hands of Hamas, just as the Jews experienced under the Nazis 80 years ago.”

“When Gov. Pritzker made these comparisons back in February in his State of the State Address, he was properly admonished by Holocaust survivor Jerry Wartski who said at the time, ‘What Pritzker says is mentally sick. The fact that he said this, especially as a Jew, is an affront to Holocaust survivors. It hurts.’”

“In response to his more recent comments, a friend of a friend I’ll identify only as ‘Nancy from Northbrook’ sent Gov. Pritzker this email:

‘Governor Pritzker, I am a child of two Holocaust survivors. I am deeply insulted by your rhetoric. There is a vast difference between rounding up criminal illegal immigrants and Jewish people during the 1930s and 1940s. You deployed the National Guard during Covid. You deployed the National Guard to protect DNC participants. I didn’t hear anyone crying out about it. I know you seek higher political office, but stop accusing political opponents of being Nazis. The only Nazis that exist currently are Hamas. NOT Trump, ICE or the National Guard. Your rhetoric is truly dangerous. - Nancy from Northbrook.’”

“Undeterred, Gov. Pritzker has continued to cheapen the horrors of the Holocaust with these baseless comparisons because he believes it will help him politically. If it does, that is a sick commentary on our politics. Instead, Pritzker’s rhetorical recklessness should be viewed as dangerous, like Nancy from Northbrook said. It should disqualify him from public office.”

Click here for some background on Mendoza.

*** Statewide ***

* Crain’s | Illinois and Trump clash in Supreme Court over mail-ballot rule: Democratic Illinois faced off against the Trump administration and a Republican congressman in the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, not over the high-stakes issue of federal intervention but about state election rules and who may challenge them. U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, a Republican from downstate Murphysboro who won with about 75% of the vote in his two most recent general elections, has challenged an Illinois State Board of Elections rule that allows the counting of mail-in ballots 14 days after Election Day as long as they are postmarked by that date.

* Sun-Times | Climate change wins another one over Illinois’ fall trout stockings: Illinois’ fall trout season will open as scheduled on Oct. 18. But the heat this fall has caused the IDNR to delay stocking this fall. […] Early catch-and-release trout opened at select sites on Saturday, Oct. 4.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | CTA ‘committed’ to Red Line Extension despite federal funding freeze, acting president says: “CTA is actively working to ensure the smooth delivery of the Red Line extension project as planned,” interim President Nora Leerhsen said at the agency’s board meeting Wednesday. News of the federal funding freeze came Friday, when White House budget director Russ Vought said on social media that the administration was pausing the funds “to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.” The move came amid broader attacks on federal funding waged by the Trump administration against Democratic-led cities and states.

* Sun-Times | Chicago police misconduct settlement would give $26.5M to 2 wrongfully convicted men: The largest of the two settlements on Thursday’s agenda for the City Council’s Finance committee — $18.5 million — would go to Francisco “Frankie” Benitez, who was convicted of the 1989 murder of two Humboldt Park teenagers solely on a confession allegedly coerced by a pair of Chicago police detectives. Benitez’s lawsuit claims he was arrested and “kept in a locked interrogation room all night without sleep,” and that the detectives “brandished a flashlight menacingly” during the interrogation, feeding Benitez details about the crime.

* AP | Soccer match between Argentina and Puerto Rico moved from Chicago to Florida amid immigration crackdown: A soccer match between Argentina and Puerto Rico, originally scheduled for next week in Chicago, has been relocated to Florida amid the immigration crackdown in the city, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The friendly match was supposed to be played Tuesday at Soldier Field in Chicago but will be moved to Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. An Argentine Football Association executive confirmed the move to the AP and said it was because of unrest in Chicago, where President Donald Trump has deployed the National Guard to quell protests against the immigration crackdown. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the relocation had not been publicly announced.

* Crain’s | Crypto payments company Coinflow raises $25 million in series A funding: Coinflow, a Chicago-based provider of payment services to companies using stablecoins, raised $25 million it said will allow it to expand its coverage to more than 100 countries, increase hiring and develop new products. The Series A funding round was led by Pantera Capital. CMT Digital, Coinbase Ventures, The Fintech Fund, Jump Capital, Reciprocal Ventures, and founders and operators from more than a dozen other companies also participated. The cash influx to the local startup is the latest sign of bullishness for an industry that was teetering on the brink of collapse three years ago.

* Sun-Times | Damen Silos demolition resumes after owner submits dust-control plan: The owner of the Damen Silos has been given the go-ahead by the city to resume demolition of the historic structures after the work was paused last week due to concerns about harmful dust leaving the site. Heneghan Wrecking, the contractor for owner Michael Tadin Jr., was given the green light to continue demolition on Wednesday, according to city health officials. City officials said they were concerned about the potential for excess dust and asked for a revised plan to contain it.

* Crain’s | Photographer behind ‘Folded Map’ project wins MacArthur ‘genius grant’: The MacArthur Fellows each receive an unrestricted $800,000, paid out over five years, to pursue their own creative, intellectual and professional inclinations, according to the foundation. The foundation highlighted her work using photography, maps and multimedia storytelling to “articulate the vast disparities in conditions, infrastructure, and investment between Chicago’s neighborhoods” while also creating “pathways for residents to begin the process of restitution and repair.”

* Chalkbeat Chicago | 16 quotes about being a Chicago Board of Education member: Chalkbeat spoke to 15 current and one former board member about what it’s been like to navigate major issues, including passing a budget, hiring an interim leader, and figuring out how to be responsive to their constituents. Over roughly 16 hours of interviews, board members shared insight into the challenges of navigating political divides, the obstacles in communicating with so many colleagues, the time commitment for this unpaid role, especially while balancing jobs and family, and other topics.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Tinley Park eases temporary restriction on business licenses: Two months into a six-month ban on new business licenses and zoning permits, the Tinley Park Village Board carved out a few exceptions Tuesday. The revised moratorium allows building owners to replace business tenants if they leave and allows existing businesses to relocate, as long as zoning and use codes are followed. The original ordinance restricted the village from issuing new businesses licenses and certain zoning permits for 13 different types of establishments including grocery stores, coffee shops, gas stations, salons, dry cleaning and hotels.

* Crain’s | Northwestern renaming Lake Forest Hospital after Ken Griffin gift: The announcement follows Griffin’s $10 million gift to Northwestern Medicine last year, the first splashy Chicago donation by the billionaire since decamping for Florida in 2022. Northwestern did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on the size of the gift tied to the Lake Forest hospital and its relation to last year’s donation. Gratz Griffin is a former Lake Forest resident, the health system said in a press release, and her family have relied on Lake Forest Hospital for care across generations.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | EIU offering separation incentive to staff amid ‘budget restructuring’: The Voluntary Separation Incentive Program document is dated back to Sept. 1. Eligible faculty and staff received a notification package on Sept. 12. More recently, those who decided to agree to the separation needed to sign the notification letter and return it to HR by Oct. 3. The separation agreement will be distributed by HR to staff by Oct. 10. Then, EIU said, the signed separation agreement is due back to HR by Oct. 21.

* WICS | University of Illinois band to perform in 2026 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: The announcement, made by Barry Houser, director of the Marching Illini, came as a surprise to the students, who were chosen from over 100 nationwide applicants. The band will be one of 10 marching bands featured in the centennial edition of the parade. The Marching Illini, known as the “Nation’s Premier College Marching Band,” has a storied history of captivating audiences with its innovative performances.

* WSIL | From North Carolina to Montana: Southern Illinois teen captivates communities through art: “I would say that I practically came out of the womb with a crayon in my hand!” Deiters said. “As most kids, I thoroughly enjoyed drawing, but my main motivation was always to create art for the people who I loved in my life. Along my artistic journey, there were many stick figure drawings of my family. As I got a little older, I gravitated towards drawing, especially colored pencils.”

*** National ***

* AP | Dolly Parton responds to concerns about her health: ‘I’m not dying’: Dolly Parton “ain’t dead yet,” the country superstar said on social media Wednesday following public speculation about her health. “There are just a lot of rumors flying around. But I figured if you heard it from me, you’d know that I was OK,” the 79-year-old singer said in a new two-minute video posted on Instagram. “I’m not ready to die yet. I don’t think God is through with me. And I ain’t done working.”

* NYT | Before Trump Ordered In Troops, Federal Officers Called Portland Protests ‘Low Energy’: Internal reports from the week before Mr. Trump ordered troops into Portland show that, by and large, the officers observed displays of civil disobedience, including protesters standing in front of vehicles on the road, playing loud music and “flipping a bird,” and an older woman using chalk to write on a wall. They also described some tense incidents, such as at least two confrontations between protesters and counterprotesters and a suspicious car that “lurched” at Department of Homeland Security officers. But local officials have said the city is well equipped to manage the demonstrations, and that an infusion of federal troops is not warranted.