The FBI on Friday arrested a Wisconsin judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities, escalating a clash between Donald Trump’s administration and the judiciary over the Republican president’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Hannah Dugan, a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, appeared briefly in federal court in Milwaukee Friday before being released from custody. Her next court appearance is May 15.
Dugan is charged with obstructing a proceeding and concealing an individual to prevent arrest.
“Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety,” her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, said during the hearing. He declined to comment to an Associated Press reporter following the court appearance.
Dugan is accused of escorting the man, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, and his lawyer out of the courtroom through the jury door on April 18 as a way to help avert his arrest, according to an FBI affidavit filed in court.
The affidavit quotes the courtroom deputy as having heard Dugan say words to the effect of, “Wait, come with me,” before ushering them into a non-public area of the courthouse. The action was unusual, the affidavit says, because “only deputies, juries, court staff, and in-custody defendants being escorted by deputies used the back jury door. Defence attorneys and defendants who were not in custody never used the jury door.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post that was later deleted that immigration officials had been attempting to apprehend Flores-Ruiz, whom he described as an “illegal alien.” Patel said agents later caught up to Flores-Ruiz and detained him.
The Justice Department in January ordered prosecutors to investigate for potential criminal charges against state and local officials who obstruct or impede federal functions. As potential avenues for prosecution, a memo cited a conspiracy offence as well as a law prohibiting the harbouring of people in the country illegally.
The arrest comes as Trump’s administration in about 100 days into the term has already been fighting pitched battles in the courts, with Democratic opposition, over immigration enforcement.
Federal judges have ordered the U.S. government to facilitate the return of two men who were not only deported to El Salvador, but sent to a harsh prison in that country — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, orginally from El Salvador, as well as a 20-year-old Venezuelan man, identified only as Cristian.
There have also been lawsuits challenging the government’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act as the legal underpinning for some deportations, as well as objections to the detentions of foreign-born students who participated in U.S. protest activity.
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In addition, a federal judge on Thursday blocked Donald Trump’s administration from withholding federal funding from 16 so-called sanctuary jurisdictions — all outside Wisconsin — that have declined to co-operate with the Republican president’s hardline immigration crackdown.
During Trump’s 2017-2021 administration, the Justice Department charged a Massachusetts judge with obstruction of justice on allegations she helped a man who was living in the U.S. illegally sneak out a back door of a courthouse to evade a waiting immigration enforcement agent.
The prosecution of a sitting judge sparked outrage from many in the legal community, who slammed the case as politically motivated.
The case against Newton District Judge Shelley Joseph was dropped in 2022 under the Democratic Biden administration after she agreed to refer herself to a state agency that investigates allegations of misconduct by members of the bench.
Dugan was elected in 2016 to the county court Branch 31. She also has served in the court’s probate and civil divisions, according to her judicial candidate biography.
Before being elected to public office, Dugan practiced at Legal Action of Wisconsin and the Legal Aid Society. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981 with a bachelor of arts degree and earned her Juris Doctorate in 1987 from the school.
