Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was charged with two felonies after being arrested by federal officers early Friday morning for allegedly helping a man without legal immigration status avoid arrest while in her courtroom on April 18. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Dugan helped direct an undocumented immigrant through a side door in her courtroom and down a private hallway into a public area when the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrived to apprehend him.
The arrest of a sitting judge is a pivotal moment in the Trump administration’s escalation of immigration enforcement. It comes just months after the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors to push forward criminal cases against local government officials who impede Trump’s immigration crackdown and go after state and local laws in court.
A spokesperson for the US Marshals Service in Washington, DC, confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Dugan was taken into custody at around 8 a.m. at the Milwaukee County Courthouse in Wisconsin. The spokesperson also told the newspaper that Dugan was charged with obstruction and concealing an individual.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted the news on X on Friday morning, writing that the FBI arrested Dugan “on charges of obstruction” during an immigration arrest operation last week. According to Patel, the judge “intentionally misdirected federal agents” away from their target, allowing the man to evade arrest. (Patel later deleted his post.)
In a press release regarding Dugan’s arrest, Congressmember Gwen Moore (D-WI) stated that the Trump administration demonstrated “overreach” with its eagerness to “weaponize federal law enforcement…in particular ICE, who have been defying courts and acting with disregard for the Constitution.”
“It is remarkable that the Administration would dare to start arresting state court judges,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). “It’s a whole new descent into government chaos.”
The man, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 30-year-old Mexican immigrant accused of misdemeanor battery, is reportedly in the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s custody at Dodge Detention Facility in Juneau, Wisconsin.
According to interim guidance from a January 2025 memorandum by former Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman—who served as part of the Trump administration prior to Kristi Noem’s US Senate confirmation—officers can make civil immigration arrests “in or near courthouses” when they have “credible information” that the person in question will make an appearance. In the guidance document, former acting ICE director Caleb Vitello wrote that the directive would “reduce safety risks to the public, targeted alien(s), and ICE officers and agents” and was necessary when jurisdictions “refuse to honor immigration detainers.”
The Milwaukee County Court has not yet responded to a request for comment from Mother Jones.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Flores Ruiz’s arrest is at least the third time that ICE agents have come to the Milwaukee County Courthouse with arrest warrants. Officials took two people into custody in March and early April.
