FBI Director Kash Patel stated on Friday (25) that agents had arrested a Milwaukee County judge on charges of obstructing immigration enforcement. A U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson confirmed the arrest of a sitting judge, marking a major escalation in the Trump administration’s battle with local authorities over deportations.
The FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan on suspicion that she “intentionally diverted federal agents from ‘an immigrant pursued by federal authorities’,” Patel wrote on social media. He later deleted the post for reasons that were not immediately clarified.
The indictment document against the judge was not immediately available in federal court records.
The case appears to stem from an incident last week, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents went to the court to arrest an immigrant who had a misdemeanor case before Judge Dugan.
The FBI is investigating whether the judge ordered the defendant and her lawyer to leave the courtroom through a side door and hallway while immigration agents were in another part of the building, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.
The Trump administration promised to investigate and prosecute local authorities who do not assist federal immigration enforcement efforts, denouncing what they call “sanctuary cities” for not doing more to aid federal apprehensions and deportations of millions of undocumented immigrants.
The Milwaukee case represents a frequent flashpoint in this debate, when immigration agents try to arrest undocumented immigrants appearing in state courts. Local authorities often resent such efforts, arguing that they endanger public safety by making people dealing with relatively minor legal issues feel it’s unsafe to enter courthouses.
During the first Trump administration, a local Massachusetts judge was also indicted by the Department of Justice on charges of obstructing immigration authorities. The charges were dropped after the judge agreed to submit to possible judicial disciplinary action.
The case also involved allegations that a judge allowed a defendant sought by ICE agents to leave the building through a back door to avoid detention. The Massachusetts Judicial Conduct Commission filed formal disciplinary charges against Judge Shelley Joseph. She denied any wrongdoing.
Source: The New York Times