New Actor: Federal Judge Warns ICE Agents on Phone Use

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis warned at a court hearing that DHS employees, including ICE agents who took part in Operation Midway Blitz, could be ordered to surrender their personal phones for examination. She said agents had been using personal devices for work communications and made clear those records would not be shielded by being on a private phone.

The warning came in a lawsuit by Illinois and Chicago challenging the operation. Ellis has not issued a seizure order and will first decide whether the case can go forward. She said she would consider less intrusive ways to obtain the information.

Her concern includes potentially missing communications involving former Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who oversaw Operation Midway Blitz. He lost his government-issued phone in January while traveling between Minnesota and South Dakota, and it was not recovered. Its data was preserved online, and he later refused to surrender his personal phone despite a California court order, saying it contained no work material.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources