FBI Arrests Judge Over Immigration Case
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel said on Friday that his agency had arrested Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan on charges related to her allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade arrest.
“Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week,” Patel, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote in a now-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter.
Dugan appeared briefly in federal court in Milwaukee on Friday before being released from custody. Her next court appearance is May 15.
“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 her court appearance.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi later said on Fox News that the administration would prosecute judges who obstruct ICE.
Newsweek reached out to the FBI and the Milwaukee County Courts for comment via email Friday morning.
Why It Matters
The Trump administration has clashed with judges at all levels over immigration policies and enforcement since Inauguration Day, but Dugan’s arrest marks a significant shift in tensions between the justice system and the Executive branch.
What To Know
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a Mexican national after he appeared at a hearing in front of Dugan, a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, on April 18.
Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 30, was accused of three counts of misdemeanor battery and was in court for a pre-trial hearing. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, ICE agents came to the courthouse with an arrest warrant that day, presented an arrest warrant, and were sent to the hallway outside Dugan’s courtroom.
According to the outlet, the judge said in an email that a warrant was not presented. She then allegedly directed the defendant and his attorney to a side door that led to a private hallway and into the public area on the same floor.
In his Friday post, Patel made it clear that agents were seeking out Flores-Ruiz and said the FBI believed Dugan purposefully directed Flores-Ruiz away from ICE. He was still arrested by federal agents that same day.
Patel deleted the post about the judge’s arrest within an hour of sharing it Friday morning. It was not immediately clear why.
Dugan’s apparent arrest comes after a former Democratic judge in New Mexico was arrested alongside his wife for allegedly harboring illegal immigrants.
What People Are Saying
FBI Director Kash Patel, in his deleted post on X: “We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest.
“Thankfully our agents chased down the perp on foot and he’s been in custody since, but the Judge’s obstruction created increased danger to the public.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Fox News on Friday: “The judge learns that ICE was outside to get the guy, because he had been deported in 2013, came back into our country, is charged with committing these crimes…She goes out in the hallway, screams at the immigration officers—she’s furious, visibly shaken, upset —sends them off to talk to the chief judge. She comes back in the courtroom… takes the defendant and the defense attorney back in her chambers, takes them out a private exit and tells them to leave.”
Milwaukee County Judge Marisabel Cabrera, in an email to other justices shared by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “My understanding is that the warrant presented was an ICE administrative warrant.
“If the proposed protocol is to accept these warrants, I find it problematic. In effect, the protocol seems to merely facilitate ICE arrests in a manner that is quiet and least disruptive to us. On the other hand, the protocol gives the illusion to the general public that steps are being taken in the courthouse to prevent ICE overreach.
“In a time where we are seeing that ICE has made grave errors in arrests, are actively making false allegations, and blatantly violating the U.S. Constitution, I have serious concerns about publicly giving the appearance that the protocol is somehow making it safe for folks to come to court when in fact they may still be arrested by ICE and deported to a brutal detention center in El Salvador.”
What Happens Next
The FBI is yet to clarify details on Dugan’s arrest.
