Christine Fernando.

A judge will consider how to respond to allegations that federal immigration agents in the Chicago area have used excessive force. A hearing Wednesday will follow a surge of recent court filings detailing tense encounters between agents and local residents. The preliminary injunction hearing stems from a lawsuit filed by news outlets and protesters who say agents have used too much force, including tear gas, during demonstrations. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis has already ordered agents to wear badges and banned them from using certain riot control techniques, such as tear gas, against peaceful protesters and journalists.

A judge has heard testimony about overflowing toilets, crowded cells, no beds and water that “tasted like sewer” at a Chicago-area immigration building. The building serves as a key detention spot for people rounded up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. People who were held at Broadview testified in federal court Tuesday. Attorneys say detainees have been denied proper access to food, water and medical care. They also say people have been coerced into signing deportation papers. The government says operations are improving and conditions are not as serious as portrayed.