US charges Milwaukee judge with obstructing immigration arrest in Trump crackdown

By Sarah N. Lynch and Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. officials arrested a Wisconsin judge on Friday and charged her with helping a man in her court evade immigration authorities in an escalating dispute between President Donald Trump's administration and local officials over immigration enforcement. 

In a criminal complaint, the U.S. Justice Department said Hannah Dugan, a Milwaukee County circuit judge, refused to turn over the man after immigration agents showed up to arrest him in her courtroom on April 18, and that she tried to help him evade arrest by allowing him to exit through a jury door. 

Dugan appeared briefly at a federal court in Milwaukee to face charges of obstructing a proceeding and concealing an individual to prevent arrest, records show. She was released and is scheduled to enter a plea on May 15. A crowd formed outside the courthouse, chanting "free the judge now."

Dugan left the courthouse through a side door following the hearing and was driven away in a black SUV, without comment.

Trump launched a sweeping immigration crackdown after taking office in January, and the Justice Department has directed federal prosecutors to pursue criminal cases against local officials who interfere with the effort. Such resistance was widespread during Trump's first 2017-2021 term in office.

"No one is above the law," Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on social media. 

The Trump administration has been locked in an escalating confrontation with federal judges, as several have issued rulings that limit its aggressive use of presidential power in immigration and other matters. State courts have played a less significant role in that dispute.

FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media that agents had arrested Dugan for interfering with the attempted arrest of Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, whom he described as an "illegal alien" now in custody. He later deleted that post, which he made before the case against Dugan was unsealed in federal court in a possible violation of secrecy rules.

"Director Patel’s statement shows that Trump’s FBI is more concerned about weaponizing federal law enforcement, punishing people without due process, and intimidating anyone who opposes those policies, than they are with seeking justice," Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said in a statement.

COURTHOUSE CONFRONTATION

According to the complaint, Dugan became "visibly angry" and said it was "absurd" when immigration officials arrived on April 18 to arrest Flores-Ruiz at her court, where he faced misdemeanor battery charges related to domestic abuse. 

Immigration advocates and some local officials have voiced alarm about courthouse arrests, saying they could discourage witnesses from testifying about crimes.

Dugan ordered the immigration officials to speak with the chief judge and then escorted Flores-Ruiz and his attorney through a door which led to a non-public area of the courthouse, the complaint said. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, citing sources it did not identify, said Dugan steered Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to a private hallway and into a public area. 

Carl Ashley, chief judge of the Milwaukee court, declined to comment. 

The complaint said Flores-Ruiz had previously been deported to Mexico.

Dugan was first elected as a county judge in 2016 and before that served as head of the local branch of Catholic Charities, which provides refugee resettlement programs among other services. She spent much of her early career as a lawyer at the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, which serves poor people.

Federal authorities this week also arrested a former New Mexico judge and charged him with evidence tampering, court records show, after a man who authorities allege was linked to a Venezuelan street gang was found living on his property. A criminal complaint has not yet been filed against the former judge, Joel Cano, who was barred by the state supreme court on Tuesday from serving as a judge in the state.

Sitting judges rarely face criminal charges in the United States. Accusations of misbehavior are typically investigated by state oversight agencies and 9 out of 10 are allowed to keep their jobs, according to a Reuters review of more than 1,500 such cases.

During Trump's first 2017-2021 term, federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against a Massachusetts judge accused of impeding a federal immigration arrest of a defendant in her courtroom. Those charges were dropped in 2022, when Trump was out of office.

Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor now at the University of Michigan Law School, said judges have no special immunity but prosecutors should consider the impact on the U.S. federal system, which allows states to enforce their own laws. 

"This seems like a very aggressive exercise of prosecutorial discretion," she said.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Andrew Goudsward; Additional reporting by Jason Lange and Ted Hesson; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Daniel Wallis)