The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested a Milwaukee County Circuit judge Friday, FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media, accusing her of helping an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest.
Judge Hannah Dugan is facing two charges for obstruction and concealing the individual from arrest, a law enforcement official told CNN.
“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,” Patel’s post read before it was quickly deleted. “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.”
Dugan is in federal custody as she awaits an initial court appearance, the law enforcement official said.
Brady McCarron, a spokesperson for the US Marshals Service, confirmed to CNN that Dugan was arrested at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday on local courthouse grounds, where she works. She was then processed by the federal Marshals Service.
She is expected to appear before a federal judge in the Eastern District of Wisconsin later Friday morning.
An arrest warrant and criminal complaint are not yet publicly available.
The arrest on federal charges is an escalation in the Trump administration’s focus on judges’ conduct, particularly as it relates to immigration enforcement. The Justice Department has repeatedly asserted that it will investigate any local officials who do not assist federal authorities on immigration matters.
Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrived at the court last week and went immediately to Dugan’s courtroom, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.
The Journal-Sentinel cited an email from Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carl Ashley, which said that “they were asked whether they had a warrant, and the agents presented the warrant as well as their identification.” The chief judge wrote that the ICE agents were told to wait until the court hearing had concluded.
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Last week’s incident marks at least the third time in recent months that federal immigration agents have come to the courthouse to make arrests. In March and early April, two people were arrested by ICE officials in the hallways of the courthouse.
Conservative talk show host Dan O’Donnell was the first to report on the most recent incident.
According to Ashley’s April 18 email, ICE agents showed up at the courthouse in the morning and identified themselves to security.
Ashley said the ICE agents were asked to wait until the court hearing had concluded. All of the agents’ actions, he said, “were consistent with our draft policies, but we’re still in the process of conferring on the draft.”
Earlier this month, Ashley said the ICE arrests at the courthouse were not unprecedented. He then assured county officials that he was working on a policy that is both legally strong and permits access to the courthouse complex.
Questions raised about administrative warrant vs. judicial warrant
That prompted Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Marisabel Cabrera to say in a later email to the other judges that her understanding was that ICE agents had presented an administrative warrant, not a judicial warrant.
Margaret “Maggie” Daun, a talk show host and general counsel for Civic Media, said there is a significant difference between a judicial warrant and an administrative warrant.