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While activists have been fighting arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the streets of Chicago, another unlikely party has been facing off against the agency in court.

McHenry County has filed suit against ICE, trying to get the federal government to pay for potential liability for allegedly making immigrant detainees do forced labor.

The court battle pits conservative McHenry County, which once fought in court for the ability to hold accused immigrants in the U.S. without legal permission in its jail, against the agency that once paid it millions of dollars every year to do so. Both county and federal officials have denied liability.

The case comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether private prisons can immedi

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