WBEZ9%
Chaotic courtrooms fuel record deportations: The Rundown 32%
By Bianca Cseke13%
7/24/2026, 8:45:00 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 27 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Appeal to Emotion, and Post Hoc (False Cause), with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 19.5% saturation with 271 hits. Analysis detected 1,898 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,393 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 40.8% and a BS Rank of 32% (15,062 of 21,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 68.80% of the article peer group.
Good afternoon!
It’s Friday, and here are some ideas for those looking for something to read after watching “The Odyssey.”
And here’s what else you need to know today.
1.
Chaotic, crowded Chicago immigration mega court hearings are fueling record deportation orders
New “mega master” hearings that began in Chicago in May are calling as many as 185 immigrants to a single small courtroom.
Many immigrants, fearful and unable to find a lawyer on short notice, are missing critical court dates, my colleagues Adriana Cardona-Maguigad and Lauren FitzPatrick report.
The stakes are high: Failing to show up to court could mean an automatic deportation order.
For those who do make it, the hearing is dense and complex, the judge’s litany of immigration jargon punctuated by crying children who are hungry and hot.
Chicago, a large court with a large backlog, stands out with the most mega hearings in June in its courthouse at 55 E.
Monroe, as well as the most scheduled at the same time, according to immigration scholar Austin Kocher.
He pinpointed three mornings in June with mega hearings scheduled simultaneously before four judges, in addition to normal court business.
Attorneys and former judges say mega master hearings serve as the latest tool for the Trump administration to deport large numbers of people, this time by causing chaos and confusion in the courts.
It’s a subtler tactic than last year’s headline-grabbing Operation Midway Blitz that hurt and killed immigrants and citizens.
A spate of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests inside courthouses already frightened immigrants from appearing.
In June, for the first time since 2019, more people were found to have missed court in Chicago than showed up, according to data released by the Executive Office of Immigration Review.
[ WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times ]
2.
At a Joliet prison, desperate men set themselves on fire
There have been more than 70 fires at the Joliet Treatment Center in the last three years, an investigation by The Marshall Project, WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times found.
That number includes a dozen cases in which men incarcerated there set themselves on fire.
The facility opened in 2017 with the promise of being a new kind of prison in Illinois, designed to provide intensive mental health treatment.
But incarcerated men and civil rights lawyers who have visited the facility said conditions declined.
Men were kept locked in their cells for long stretches, with nothing to do.
They complained about a lack of medical care and mental health treatment, which the prison system is legally obligated to provide.
Men reported guards used excessive force.
As the men grew more despondent, some became willing to do anything to draw attention to their troubles and resorted to setting their cells — or themselves — on fire.
Yet officials at the Joliet Treatment Center have repeatedly failed to meet their responsibilities to prevent or respond to the fires, government records show.
Cellblocks lacked sprinklers, and fire alarms were turned off or inoperable.
At an annual inspection, the prison would not provide a fire evacuation plan.
Guards delayed ambulances responding to emergencies at the prison or trying to take men with serious injuries to the hospital.
The Illinois Department of Corrections did not answer questions about the epidemic of fires at Joliet Treatment Center, but in an email a spokesperson wrote that it is “committed to ensuring the safety and security of staff, individuals in custody, and all persons who enter our facilities” and takes its responsibility to uphold requirements related to facility safety seriously.
[ Marshall Project/WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times ]
3.
Gov.
Pritzker signed a law designating July 25 as Emmett Till Day in Illinois
On what would’ve been Emmett Till’s 85th birthday, Illinois will observe its first official day in his honor.
The Black teen, who lived on Chicago’s South Side, was 14 when he was lynched on a trip to Mississippi in 1955.
“In Illinois, we understand that we cannot build a more just future if we are unwilling to confront the injustices of our past,” Pritzker said at a news conference at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ, where Till’s funeral was held in 1955 — a funeral at which his mother insisted on an open casket, saying, “Let the people see what they did to my boy.”
“This legislation ensures that Emmett Till and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley will never be forgotten, their legacy will continue to challenge us to be better and their example will continue to inspire us to build a state and a nation that lives up to its highest ideals,” Pritzker said.
The bill is the latest in a string of actions honoring Till’s life and legacy in Illinois.
He has been memorialized in scholarships for local youth, the names of roads and community centers, and nationally recognized monuments across the state.
In 2023, Roberts Temple was made a national landmark by President Joe Biden.
[ Chicago Sun-Times ]
4.
Pullman will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Metra Electric line
The Railroad Days celebration tomorrow and Sunday at Pullman Historical National Park will feature a restored 1926 Pullman electric railcar and a vintage 1970s-era railcar.
Visitors also can explore model train displays; a science, technology, engineering, art and math fair with hands-on science and engineering activities; food trucks, live music and presentations.
Tickets are $20 before Saturday and $25 on Saturday and Sunday.
Friends of Pullman Executive Director Peggy Parfenoff said the transition from steam-powered locomotives to electric rail service helped transform the city.
“They raised the tracks, they cleaned up the lakefront and they made it the lakefront for us to enjoy today with beaches, museums and everything we have along it,” she said.
[ Chicago Sun-Times ]
5.
Chicago is at peak improv, with iO Fest and TJ & Dave returning
This weekend marks the third annual iO Fest, one of the biggest improv events in the world.
Next weekend, improv legends TJ & Dave perform at the Goodman Theatre.
Then the Dramatic Improv Festival arrives next month, heralding a unique brand of the artform.
TJ Jagodowski told WBEZ that Chicago was the first city you could see live improv seven nights a week, and that reputation has held true.
Bigger venues such as Second City, iO and the Annoyance have enough shows to fill a weekly calendar.
But there are also smaller venues and companies, including Logan Square Improv, The Bit Theatre in Aurora and weekly bilingual improv show “¿Cómo se dice....?,” hosted at Collaboraction’s new theater, the House of Belonging, in Humboldt Park.
As for what it was about Chicago that has allowed improv to flourish, David Pasquesi said the answer lies in long-standing institutions like iO and The Second City, even if the latter leans more on sketch comedy than improv.
[ WBEZ ]
Here’s what else is happening
The Trump administration timed a new set of tariffs on its largest trading partners to take effect at the same time the old, global tariff ended.
[ NPR ]
The U.S. already has more measles cases this year than in all of 2025.
[ AP ]
The Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation will award 52 grants of $5,000 each to qualifying Chicago-area small businesses affected by immigration raids and patrols.
[ Chicago Sun-Times ]
Former President Barack Obama dropped by a WNBA event inspiring ninth grade girls at the Obama Presidential Center today.
[ Chicago Sun-Times ]
Oh, and one more thing …
Artificial intelligence has the potential to alter the lifelong hardwiring of future generations if given to kids younger than 6, leaving them ill-equipped to navigate human relationships, sustain the attention required for learning and making it more difficult to develop empathy.
That assessment — found in Dr.
Dana Suskind’s new book, “Human Raised: Nurturing Connection, Curiosity, & Lifelong Learning in the Age of AI” — makes hand-wringing over screen time and social media look almost quaint in comparison, WBEZ contributor Rebecca Little writes.
Suskind outlines how these emerging technologies are disruptive to a developing brain and offers guidelines for parents on how to assess whether (or which ones) to allow their children to use.
[ WBEZ ]
Tell me something good …
Thanks for telling me about your bucket list for the rest of summer!
I hope you all get to check some stuff off this weekend.
Analysis
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