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Failed immigration cases leave Chicago prosecutor’s office reeling

newsJul 19, 2026321,158

The New York Times reports that veteran prosecutors have resigned from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago after being pressured to bring immigration- and protest-related assault cases that overwhelmingly failed. The office under U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros brought 62 assault cases tied to a Midway operation; only one produced a guilty plea, none resulted in convictions, and two remain pending. Sources cited a roughly 2 percent success rate for those prosecutions compared with the Justice Department’s typical win rate of more than 90 percent in criminal cases. The departures include the heads of all seven sections of the office’s criminal division in the past year and many of their successors and deputies. More than 100 former federal prosecutors from the Chicago office signed a letter saying actions by leadership have tarnished the office’s reputation. Boutros took the unusual step of speaking to a grand jury and asking any juror “who is struggling” with immigration prosecutions to raise their hand, which former prosecutors said violated Justice Department norms. The failed cases account for a large share of the roughly 213 similar federal prosecutions nationwide that have been abandoned or lost since the administration’s recent immigration enforcement sweep.

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