An appeals court in the United States has blocked an order that would have required a senior Border Patrol official to give a federal judge daily in-person briefings about immigration sweeps in Chicago, the Associated Press reported.

The one-page suspension by the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals came on Wednesday, before Greg Bovino's first scheduled late-afternoon meeting with US District Judge Sara Ellis at the courthouse in downtown Chicago, according to AP reporting published by the Denver Post and the Press Democrat.

Judge Ellis had ordered the meetings on Tuesday after weeks of tense encounters and complaints of excessive force during Operation Midway Blitz, which the reports say has resulted in more than 1,800 arrests since September. She also demanded full use-of-force reports from agents involved in the operation.

The judge's order followed reports that Border Patrol agents used tear gas in a Northwest Side neighbourhood where children had gathered for a Halloween parade over the weekend, as neighbours gathered in the street while a person was arrested. Ellis said she did not want violation reports showing agents deploying tear gas on Halloween, when children would be present.

Government lawyers appealed the order, calling it extraordinarily disruptive. The Justice Department argued, in AP's reporting, that the order significantly interferes with the executive function of enforcing immigration laws by waylaying a senior official critical to that mission on a daily basis.

Lawyers for the news outlets and activists whose lawsuit alleges excessive force by agents in and around Chicago have until 5 p.m. Thursday to respond in the appeals court, the reports said. Bovino had told Fox News he was eager to talk to Judge Ellis.

The case remains a lawsuit over agents' tactics, not a ruling on whether immigration laws themselves can be enforced. Judge Ellis has said her role is to see that, in enforcing those laws, agents act in a manner consistent with the Constitution.