The Milwaukee judge, Hannah Dugan, was arrested for allegedly helping an illegal immigrant evade arrest, the FBI director says.
The FBI arrested a Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, circuit judge for allegedly assisting an illegal immigrant in evading arrest, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Friday.
Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested on obstruction charges, Patel
confirmed in a post on X on Friday. The FBI made the arrest “after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week,” he added
“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,” the FBI director said.
Patel said that Flores Ruiz is also in federal custody but added that the judge’s alleged “obstruction created increased danger to the public.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi later
confirmed on social media that Dugan was arrested for allegedly helping an illegal immigrant evade U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) officials. Other details about the alleged incident were not provided by either Patel or Bondi.
Court records regarding Dugan’s arrest were not immediately available as of Friday morning. The Epoch Times has contacted the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, and an email account associated with Dugan for comment.
An Associated Press reporter
said that Dugan appeared in a federal court hearing on Friday, and she was released from custody.
A lawyer for Dugan, Craig Mastantuono, said during the court hearing that the judge “wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety,” according to the AP reporter.
Dugan has been a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge since 2016 and typically oversees misdemeanor cases, according to the
court’s website and her LinkedIn
page. She ran for reelection unopposed for the Branch 31 division in 2022, and her current term is scheduled to end in August 2028.
The Trump administration has said it would investigate and prosecute local officials who refuse to comply with federal immigration efforts.
Days after President Donald Trump took office in January, the Department of Justice (DOJ)
sent a memo ordering federal prosecutors to investigate local or state officials who allegedly are obstructing efforts to detain or arrest illegal immigrants.
That memo had warned that the DOJ could prosecute local officials
under a law that prohibits conspiracy to commit an offense against or defraud the federal government, which carries a prison term of up to five years for each count.
Top administration officials
have also said they would withhold funding to states that don’t adhere to the government’s immigration-related policies.
Dugan’s arrest comes after a former New Mexico judge and his wife
were arrested on Thursday after prosecutors alleged they allowed an illegal immigrant and Tren de Aragua gang member to live on their property.
Former Magistrate Judge Joel Cano, who resigned in March, was told by the New Mexico Supreme Court
in an order earlier this week that he cannot be a member of the state judiciary in any capacity.
Cano and his wife, Nancy, face charges of evidence tampering.
Footage shows Cano speaking to FBI officials near a residence, which was re-posted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on X.
An initial post made by Patel on X was deleted for unclear reasons. He uploaded the same statement confirming Dugan’s arrest in a separate post on Friday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
