By TONY GUERRERO Hays Post

As artificial intelligence blurs the line between fact and fiction, Fort Hays State University hosted a panel on Thursday to avoid online media manipulation and misinformation.

Panelists included journalist Lynn Ann Huntington; FHSU information literacy librarian Robyn Hartman; FHSU learning commons coordinator Andy Tincknell; FHSU communication studies instructor Brittney Reed; and Hays Public Library Kansas Room Coordinator Jeremy Gill.

The event was part of the Hays Public Library's How-To Series. Audience members engaged with the panelists, beginning with the question, “How do we determine what’s real and what’s not?”

"It's a 50/50 coin toss whether we can really identify whether something is fake or real," Tincknell said, referencing a study from the Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery. "It's getting tough, and it's going to get tougher."

Tincknell said technology meant to detect false information is lagging behind the rapid improvements in how effectively misinformation can deceive the public.

Hartman encouraged people to slow down when consuming news online and recommended using the SIFT method, short for stop, investigate the source, find better coverage and trace the context.

The panel noted the same approach applies to videos and images, highlighting Google’s reverse image search tool as a way to trace the origin of visual content.

Reed added another useful approach is consensual validation, which is checking multiple sources on a topic to confirm the same set of facts.

"If you're just seeing it from one source, I will often tell my students to take that with a grain of salt," she said. "You want to find several sources that are saying the same thing, particularly when it's information that seems too crazy to be true. Be looking into those other avenues."

One audience member asked Reed whether she honestly expected most people to spend that much time verifying information. Huntington replied, “It depends on how badly they want to know the truth.”

Huntington said traditional editors serve as “gatekeepers,” filtering out weak stories, but online platforms no longer provide that oversight, leaving users to act as their own editors.

The panel also warned of relying on AI for research, noting that it can generate convincing false citations and articles, and might require further research to verify information independently.

Several panelists discussed their experiences with AI in the classroom. Hartman said some students have asked her to help find articles, only to discover that they never existed.

"I ask, 'Where did you get the title of this?' and they eventually confess that they used AI for sources they could use. It's close, maybe the author has written on that topic, but then AI says, 'Here's a book that they wrote,' and that author has not written that book," she said.

Panelists did note some benefits of AI, particularly when it’s used as a tool for brainstorming rather than a source of definitive answers.

Reed said one thing missing in today’s digital age is peer accountability on online platforms and urged people to hold each other responsible for what they share.

"We get this online disinhibition where we don't have to face the consequences of posting something that was incorrect," Reed said. "That's a message we need to share with each other to try to shift the culture a little bit."

FHSU panel urges critical thinking to combat misinformation

On this episode of the Hays Post Podcast, news reporter Becky Kiser talks with Monique Koerner and Karissa Frasier of the Cottonwood Extension District about the health benefits of walking, eating a Mediterranean diet, and free help available during the Part D Open Enrollment period.&nbsp;&nbsp;

🎙 Post Podcast: Programs for your health, financial wellness from Cottonwood Extension District

By STEVE GILLILAND Explore Kansas Outdoors

Among my top ten favorite life experiences has been sitting on my brother’s porch after dark, when he lived deep in the southeastern Ohio woods, listening to the sounds of the night. There are whippoorwills and coyotes and all the small croaking, twittering creatures of the dark, but the main attraction was always the owls. 

From the eerie whines of tiny screech owls, to the deep, bass moans of great horned owls, and the tell-tale “Who cooks for you, who cooks for you too” cries of barred owls, the night time woods always came alive with owl calls.

A little-known owl species here in Kansas is the burrowing owl, a medium-sized owl that make their home in abandoned badger and prairie dog dens. 

I was introduced to burrowing owls a few years back during an opening day pheasant hunt near my home. We were a large group of 15 or so hunters and were trudging across an overgrown CRP field. As we walked, birds identified by the landowner (who was with us) as hawks began taking flight, one-at-a-time from out of nowhere. Looking back, I believe those birds were in fact burrowing owls being spooked by our presence from their dens that were probably old abandoned badger holes.

Studies show burrowing owl populations to be in sharp decline, easily imagined here in Midwestern farm country where badger dens are not welcome and are filled-in when possible, and where prairie dog towns as a whole are hard to come by anymore. 

They are listed as endangered in Canada, as threatened in Mexico, and as endangered, threatened or of special concern in nine of the United States. Here in Kansas, they are listed as “vulnerable.” 

Burrowing owls are active both day and night and often live in colonies of several mated pairs. They drag all manner of stuff into their dens as nesting material, and I found numerous mentions of cow manure being a favorite. Researchers believe the manure somehow helps control the microclimate of the den, plus attracts insects which the owls feed on. Typical clutch sizes are from 3 to 12 eggs, and large families of chicks are often raised. Their main diet is mice and moles during spring and early summer when they’re still feeding hungry chicks, then mainly grasshoppers and beetles as long as they can still be found.

 Burrowing owls stand 10 to 12 inches tall when mature and have long, featherless legs and white eyebrows above extremely large, bright and beautiful yellow eyes. All birds make some sort of vocal sounds, and even though burrowing owl calls are not noteworthy at all compared to some of their vocal cousins, they do make a few cooing, chirping sounds, the most recognized being a two-note sound reminiscent of a quail call.

We recently watched a TV documentary about swift foxes and burrowing owls living in suburban neighborhoods around Las Vegas. 

Since watching that documentary, we have found a couple dens of burrowing owls living in a sprawling prairie dog encampment near Walmart in Hutchinson. We can see their dens from a side street, so now every time we are in that part of town (which is way too often for me) we swing past, and if they are sitting at the entrance to their den, we stop and watch awhile. They are surrounded by active prairie dog dens and the dogs scurry about and graze as if the owls weren’t there at all. 

In fact, the little owls probably benefit from the prairie dog’s surveillance system. In an active prairie dog town there are always certain occupants designated as sentries whose job it is to keep watch for danger, and when intruders are spotted in the form of foxes, hawks or merely nosey humans, they sound an alarm by rising quickly up on their hind feet, stretching their heads skyward and emitting&nbsp;shrill high pitched chirps of danger, sending all their brethren scurrying for cover and affording the owls a chance to dive into their burrows too.

One of these days I’m going to wonder around through the prairie dog towns around Walmart to see if there are signs of any other little owls there. I’ve always wondered if there are prairie rattlesnakes living there amongst the prairie dogs, too. They are common inhabitants of abandoned prairie dog dens, although not quite as cordial as the owls, given that they often eat the landlords. 

Steve can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com.

Explore Kansas Outdoors: Have you an owl in your burrow?

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Rexford's McCarty Family Farms named Dairy Producers of the Year at World Dairy Expo

By&nbsp;MARK JOSLYN Insight Kansas

It’s not about defeating Sharice Davids.&nbsp;After all, a Democrat occupying one of the four congressional seats is nothing new. It’s not about appeasing Trump. Republicans’ penchant to gerrymander predates his involvement. It’s about Johnson County.

For decades, JoCo outpaced statewide Republican support. For example, when Eisenhower carried Kansas with a whopping 69 percent of the vote, JoCo surpassed that mark with 72.5 percent. When Reagan reached 66 percent, JoCo secured 72.4 percent.

Even in Democrat years, JoCo never wavered. When FDR won the state for a second time, JoCo delivered 57.7 percent of its vote to Republican nominee, and Kansas Governor, Alf Landon. When Kansans chose Democrat Lyndon Johnson, a majority of JoCo voters favored Barry Goldwater.&nbsp;The first signs of change came in 2008.

JoCo’s Republican vote share lagged the statewide average by almost 3 points, the largest such gap since 1917, the last time the county supported a Democrat for president.&nbsp;By 2016 the gap ballooned to 10 points and expanded in 2020 when the county finally flipped blue. Democrat advances appeared down the ballot too.

In 2018, Laura Kelley thumped Kris Kobach in JoCo by 17 points, though statewide it was a 5-point race. In her reelection bid, Kelley realized nearly 60 percent of JoCo’s vote and the county’s state House and Senate Democrat delegations increased.

JoCo’s majority support was pivotal in Sharice Davids’ defeat of incumbent Kevin Yoder for the Third District. Her county vote share has since grown to 55 percent.&nbsp;

For the first time in Kansas history a Democrat Senate candidate won JoCo, though Roger Marshall prevailed statewide. In 2022, Senator Jerry Moran vote share in JoCo dropped to 46.7 percent, down from 62.1 percent a decade before.

And in 2024, Byron Roberson became the first Democrat elected JoCo sheriff in nearly a century. The changes have rattled Republicans who recognize further decline could be costly. 

Trump’s call to redraw the maps mid-decade thus comes at an opportune time, giving Republican leaders cover to once again use their redistricting leverage. 

By dividing the county, and merging its parts with strong GOP districts, a gerrymander reduces JoCo Democrats to a fragmented minority, their influence diminished by the dilution of their voting power.&nbsp;

A gerrymander also weakens JoCo’s ascendant political structure. No longer able to organize an efficacious majority around shared priorities, JoCo Democrats would have to rebuild a broader, layered infrastructure that spans the diverse interests of suburban and rural communities.&nbsp;

With their base fractured, Democrats may struggle to unify their message, energize supporters, and build strong leadership.

Should Republican leaders pull it off, a gerrymander will, at minimum, blunt Democratic momentum, diminish Davids’ margins, and facilitate GOP actions against a weakened JoCo operation.&nbsp;

But it’s a tightrope, requiring a special session, supermajorities, considerable arm-twisting, and the risks of legal challenges.&nbsp;Whether it’s perceived as an assault on democratic principles or smart political strategy depends on one’s partisan leanings.

State legislatures do have the authority to redraw districts. And both parties appear ready to exercise that power.

JoCo’s outsized influence in the state’s electoral calculus and notable shift toward Democrats makes this a weighty moment for Republican leaders.&nbsp;

Mark R. Joslyn is a professor of political science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;

INSIGHT KANSAS: The fight over maps is really a fight over JoCo. 

<a href="https://hayspost.com/pages/state-farm-weather-window">For a full look at the weather forecast, click here.</a>

Three-day weather outlook

📷 Pa's Pumpkin Patch opens for 2025 season

A  taco/nacho bar fundraiser for the Hays Buffaloes Special Olympics basketball team and Lakin Eckroat (for Special Olympics bowling) to go to USA Games in Minneapolis, Minnesota in June of 2026 will be held on Monday, Oct. 20 at Thirsty's The Venue, 2704 Vine, Hays.

Tickets are being sold for $12 and can be purchased from myself by emailing me Activities Director Tiffany Schulte at tschulte@arcofcentralplains.org, Facebook Messenger (Buffalo Adventures page), or calling 785-639-4181.

 The ticket covers the taco/nacho bar and there are set times every 20 minutes starting at 5 p.m. and ending at 7:40 p.m. 

There will also be raffle prizes on display on the stage at Thirsty's starting Oct. 13 and those tickets are $10 each. No need to be present to win. There will be a live drawing on Oct. 20 at 7:50 p.m. on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ARCACTIVITIES">Buffalo Adventures</a> Facebook page.

This fundraiser is supporting the Hays Buffaloes Special Olympics basketball team and Lakin Eckroat (for Special Olympics bowling)&nbsp;

These athletes have been working very hard to prepare for the trip. They practice every week and have been helping with fundraising. Most of them have never been to USA Games and are very excited for the opportunity. 

This is the first time ever that an entire Hays team gets to participate. Special Olympics holds this event every four years.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Fundraiser for Hays Buffaloes headed to Special Olympics USA Games 2026

STOCKTON — The Stockton FFA will be holding their annual Goblin's Glory Halloween extravaganza on Sat., Oct. 25 at the Stockton High School gyms.

The events will start with a soup supper at 6 p.m. followed by the kids costume contest at 6:30 p.m. for ages 6 and younger and 7 to 12. Games and bingo will also begin at 6:30 p.m. with the merchandise auction starting at 7 p.m.

The Goblin's Glory King and Queen crowning is at 8 p.m.

Stockton FFA Goblin's Glory Halloween extravaganza is Oct. 25

Our strength lies in our shared commitment: that by giving a little, we can do a lot for those in need.&nbsp;

We are excited to invite you to our upcoming 100 Who Care, Ellis County meeting on&nbsp;Tuesday, October 14. This month, we will be hearing from these three wonderful nonprofits making a difference in our community:&nbsp;&nbsp;

• Big Brothers Big Sisters:&nbsp;Focused on fostering meaningful one-to-one mentoring relationships that unlock the potential and promise of our youth. Their impactful work not only transforms lives but also strengthens families and creates brighter futures. We are fortunate to have this valuable program right here in Ellis County.

• Jana’s Campaign:&nbsp;Committed to preventing gender and relationship violence through early education and awareness. What started as a local initiative in Ellis County has grown into a vital nationwide service that saves lives, empowers individuals, and builds safer, healthier communities.

• First Call for Help:&nbsp;Dedicated to alleviating the effects of poverty by connecting individuals and families with essential resources and support during times of crisis. Their efforts bring hope, stability, and practical solutions to members of Ellis County, helping to strengthen our community as a whole.

A special thank you goes out to our Fort Hays State University Leadership 310 team — Landon, Abigail, Sierra, and Hunter — as well as our current steering team members, Jack, Jessie, and Brandy. The LDRS 310 class focuses on developing leadership skills through hands-on community engagement, and our 100 Who Care program is proud to serve as a real-world platform where these emerging leaders can apply their learning to support and strengthen Ellis County.

Thanks to our generous sponsors, snacks and beverages will be provided by&nbsp;POPt Popcorn&nbsp;and&nbsp;A&amp;A Coors, meeting space is graciously hosted by the&nbsp;Sternberg Museum.&nbsp; If you are unable to attend, please feel free to drop off your donation at Wayne Voss State Farm, 2707 Vine St., Ste 13, Hays. Notify Brandy ahead of time with your voting preference, and she will be happy to vote by proxy on your behalf.&nbsp;

At&nbsp;100 Who Care,&nbsp;Ellis County, we come together because we believe in the power of collective giving to create real, positive change in our community. Please consider inviting a friend to join us as we strive to grow our membership beyond 100 and make an even greater impact.

Finally, stay tuned for some exciting news — we will be launching an online payment platform early in 2026 to make giving even easier!&nbsp;Thank you for your continued passion and support.&nbsp;

Generosity is the heartbeat of 100 Who Care — where every gift counts, every member matters, and every cause benefits.&nbsp;&nbsp;We look forward to seeing you on October 14!

Public invited to 100 Who Care, Ellis County meeting on Oct. 14 in Hays

&nbsp;Submit events to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:admin@hayspost.com">admin@hayspost.com</a>. Cover photo courtesy Pixabay

Special thanks to <a href="https://www.visithays.com/183/Events">The Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau</a> and<a href="https://www.fhsu.edu/"> Fort Hays State University</a> for their contributions to the community calendar.

Community Calendar

Disabled American Veterans Chapter 18 is now offering services in Ellis County and surrounding areas through its new office at Hays First United Methodist Church, 302 W. Eighth St., Room 205, and it is now seeing clients.

Chris Deitering, department service officer, will help to expand access to resources for injured veterans by providing free assistance to veterans and their families, including help with VA and federal claims, survivor and burial benefits, membership assistance, and disaster relief, a news release said.

Deitering’s office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

According to the news release, “The DAV is a nonprofit that remains committed to the nation's injured heroes and former federal employees of all generations to ensure they are not alone on their road to recovery by aiding service members in the transition to civilian life, fighting for their rights on Capitol Hill, and funding rehabilitation programs.”

Disabled American Veterans has new office in Hays church

Thomas More Prep-Marian Parents Teachers Friends Soup Supper is Sunday, October 26 from 4-7 p.m.&nbsp; We will have chili, green bean dumpling soup, sandwiches and cinnamon rolls.&nbsp;Carry out is available. 

It is a free will offering with proceeds to support classroom and student scholarships.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Thomas More Prep-Marian PTF Soup Supper fundraiser is Oct. 26

The Hays Public Library is hosting a special book talk with Kansas author George Frazier, as he discusses his latest release,&nbsp;Riverine Dreams: Away to the Glorious and Forgotten Grassland Rivers of America, published by the University of Chicago Press.

The event is set for 2:00 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 11, in the HPL Kansas Room.

Prepare for tales of strange riverine forests left over from the ice age, leviathan fish migrations, modern grizzlies roaming the plains, endangered plants as rare as mastodon ivory, an audacious plan to return 10,000 bison to a Great Plains biosphere reserve, and of course, river otter mayhem.

If you thought you knew about the wild lands of Kansas and the surrounding states, get ready for some surprises. Grassland rivers are the most unheralded gems of the entire American backcountry, and Frazier will tell us about the “Grassland River revival” he discovered while exploring eight of the wildest stretches of rivers that remain.

The Hays Public Library is coordinating with Russell Specialty Books and Gifts for this event.

You can find out more about this and other library programs at&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://hayslibrary.org/">hayslibrary.org</a>&nbsp;or by calling 785-625-9014.

Hays Public Library to host Kansas author George Frazier Oct. 11

PAWNEE ROCK — To commemorate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Heartland Center for Spirituality and Heartland Farm invite the public to a special viewing of The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code, followed including discussion led by Dr. Leo Oliva. The event will take place on Sunday, October 12, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Great Bend Dominican Sisters of Peace Motherhouse.

Dr. Oliva, a retired history professor from Fort Hays State University, will offer historical insights into the Doctrine of Discovery and engage with attendees during a Q&amp;A session.

Originating from 15th-century Papal Bulls, the Doctrine of Discovery laid the groundwork for colonial expansion, legitimizing the seizure of Indigenous lands, the suppression of native cultures, and brutality toward and enslavement of African and other peoples. The Doctrine continues to influence U.S. and international property law to this day.

Dr. Oliva graduated from FHSU before seeking both his master’s degree in American History and doctorate in American Studies from the University of Denver. He is the author of eight books and many articles and served as the editor of the Santa Fe Trail quarterly, Wagon Tracks, for 25 years. Dr. Oliva’s areas of interest include the Santa Fe Trail, frontier military history, the conquest of Indigenous nations and their lands, and Kansas history since 1959. Dr. Oliva was a member of the Humanities Kansas Speakers’ Bureau and has presented more than 400 programs on various historical topics.

 In March 2025, FHSU honored Dr. Oliva with a distinguished professorship in history in his name.

Join us for this free event will be held in the auditorium at the Dominican Sisters of Peace Motherhouse, located at 3600 Broadway, Great Bend. Light refreshments will be available, and voluntary donations are welcome.

To RSVP, please email your name and the number of attendees to ann.axman@heartlandspirituality.org or hfarminfo@oppeace.org.

Retired FHSU professor to discuss Doctrine of Discovery commemorating Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Donation accepted Oct. 17-31 for annual Hays Coat Drive 

Area Pizza Hut fundraisers today for HPD Officer Scott Heimann family 

By&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/02/24/gov-laura-kelly-skeptical-kansas-houses-anti-tenure-legislation-will-reach-her-desk/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran sounded an alarm that the ongoing federal government shutdown threatened to break the nation’s “fragile” aviation system.

Moran, a Kansas Republican who chairs the Senate’s subcommittee on aviation, space and innovation, made reference to the Jan. 29 crash of a commercial jet from Wichita that collided with a military helicopter in crowded airspace above Washington, D.C.

“Our system is too fragile, and the stakes are too high, for us to continue operating the national aviation system in the manner we are doing so,” Moran said. “We will reach a breaking point, and this could result in the closing of our airspace or portions of it.”

He said he never found value in government shutdowns and urged Senate Democrats to collaborate with Republicans to pass a short-term budget resolution so people could return to their jobs and government work could resume.

The budget impasse prompting closure of nonessential elements of the government reached its 10th day on Friday.

There has been concern that continuation of the political dispute could undermine operation of U.S. airports. Air traffic controllers and TSA officers are considered essential employees and required to work during this period without timely paychecks. The existing national shortage of air traffic controllers, exacerbated by illness of personnel during the shutdown, has been responsible for an increase in flight delays.

“Every day we remain in a shutdown, the air traffic controller shortage gets worse and the strain on the aviation system intensifies,” the senator said in a Senate floor speech. “I hope that this dysfunction we are undergoing … stops before we see dramatic and damaging consequences.”

The U.S. House passed a resolution to keep the government open, but the U.S. Senate hasn’t found the votes to mirror that step.

Moran said failure to “pass a continuing resolution is slowly crushing our aviation system.”

In January, American Airlines Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided mid-air over the Potomac River. The incident near the Reagan National Airport killed 67 people aboard both aircraft, including 64 passengers and crew on the airliner. The jet had departed from Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita.

“We should be doing everything we can to make certain that our air traffic system and the necessary components are in place to make sure that the traveling public has a safe and secure flight when they board a plane in the United States,” he said. “That work is significantly hindered without an open and functioning government.”

Senator Moran contends government closure ‘slowly crushing our aviation system’

TOPEKA —Law enforcement across the state continue to find drivers traveling far above the posted speed limit.&nbsp;

On Saturday, KHP Trooper Tod shared a photo of a traffic stop with a reminder from a fellow State Trooper, " Trooper Presley would like to remind everybody that for every 10 mph a vehicle travels over 50 mph, the risk of death in a crash doubles."

Speeding is reckless and it puts lives at risk.&nbsp;

KHP Trooper with an important reminder about driving too fast

The decision has far-reaching implications affecting the treatment of immigrants suspected of civil immigration violations in six midwestern states, including Missouri

By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/marysanchez/">Mary Sanchez</a>

The warrantless arrests of 11 immigrant restaurant workers in Liberty earlier this year violated a 2022 consent decree, a federal judge ruled.

The arrests of the workers at El Potro Mexican Café in February were among the first in the Kansas City area to draw widespread media attention.

The Liberty cases became part of a broader filing, challenging government tactics under the second Trump administration on behalf of 26 immigrant plaintiffs.

The case did not question the government’s right to make arrests on immigration violations. But it questioned whether it had violated the prior consent agreement by making warrantless arrests.

On Oct. 7, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division,&nbsp;<a href="https://immigrantjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/214-Nava-v-DHS-Mem-Opinion_10-07-25.pdf" target="_blank">ruled in favor of the immigrant workers</a>.

Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to lift any conditions on the release of 22 immigrants, including 11 people who had been detained after the Liberty raid.

The other 11 people were detained in Chicago through warrantless arrests in their neighborhood or vehicles, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://immigrantjustice.org/press-release/federal-judge-extends-consent-decree-prohibiting-ice-from-arresting-people-without-warrants-or-probable-cause/" target="_blank">National Immigrant Justice Center</a>, which helped bring the case.

The decision has far-reaching implications and is a huge win for due process, said&nbsp;<a href="https://sharma-crawford.com/" target="_blank">Rekha</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://sharma-crawford.com/" target="_blank">Sharma-Crawford</a>, a Kansas City-based immigration attorney representing the Liberty workers.

The Liberty restaurant workers now are out on bond, an option that has become nearly impossible in recent months for detainees taken into ICE custody.

“Their deportation cases, at least for the time being, would have to be dismissed because they were all arrested unlawfully,” Sharma-Crawford said.

In addition to Missouri and Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Kentucky are also under the consent decree, known for the name of one of the original plaintiffs, Margarito Castañon Nava.

<a href="https://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/judge_display.php?LastName=Cummings" target="_blank">Cummings</a>&nbsp;also ordered the Department of Homeland Security to reissue its warrantless arrest policy nationwide and certify that any officers who violated the consent decree were retrained.

Also, ICE will need to report to the court the names and arrest documents for anyone else who had been arrested without a warrant on immigration violations since June in the Northern District of Illinois, and to continue making similar reports monthly.

In some of the cases, federal officials were accused of creating warrants after they had already arrested the individuals on the civil violations of being without lawful immigration or citizenship status.

Cummings also extended the consent decree to Feb. 2, 2026.

It had been set to expire May 12, 2025, had further violations not been found.

The date change “corresponds to the number of days between the date that ICE unequivocally ceased its compliance with the Agreement (June 11, 2025) and the date of this Memorandum Opinion and Order to provide plaintiffs with the full three-year term of the Agreement for which they bargained,” according to the judge’s ruling.

The Department of Homeland Security also was ordered to pay the plaintiffs’ attorney fees.

The case was brought by the National Immigrant Justice Center and the Roger Baldwin Foundation of the ACLU of Illinois.

“Today’s decision makes clear that DHS and ICE — like everyone else — must follow the Constitution and the law,” said ACLU of Illinois Deputy Legal Director Michelle Garcia, co-counsel, in a statement.

“The federal government’s reckless practice of stopping, harassing and detaining people — and then finding a justification for the action must end,” Garcia said. “The Trump administration’s destructive mass deportation scheme is not a reason to toss aside bedrock constitutional principles, disregard federal law or court orders.”

The ruling comes as the federal government ramps up the presence of immigration agents in Chicago, and President Donald Trump is threatening to send in the National Guard to maintain order in the face of protests in Portland.

The Department of Homeland Security has not issued a statement yet on the court’s decision.

The Liberty workers were detained after more than a dozen agents with Homeland Security Investigations entered the restaurant looking for a worker suspected of a child sex crime.

But communication problems, possibly exacerbated by language barriers, led to the federal agents entering a private office space, despite the lack of a warrant, and collecting employment documents.

Twelve workers were handcuffed and detained. One of the immigrants was later removed from the U.S.

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