A Milwaukee county judge was arrested Friday for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade federal authorities, FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested Friday morning at the Milwaukee County Courthouse, the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Dugan’s arrest marks the first time the Trump administration has charged a member of the judiciary for alleged interference with immigration enforcement.
“Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week,” Patel wrote. “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 deleted an initial post on the subject on Friday morning but posted again later. The FBI did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
Dugan briefly appeared in federal court following her arrest. Her attorney said during the hearing that “Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety,” the Associated Press reported. She was released from custody and is due to next appear May 15.
According to an FBI agent’s affidavit in the criminal complaint against the judge, Flores-Ruiz is a Mexican citizen who was previously removed from the U.S.
On April 17, immigration officials found probable cause for his removal again and issued a warrant, according to the FBI agent. Milwaukee Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents appeared at the courthouse to arrest Flores-Ruiz during a scheduled court appearance on April 18, the affidavit states.
The FBI agent alleges that when Dugan learned of the plan, she became visibly angry and called the situation “absurd.” She then asked a deportation officer to leave the courtroom because they were not there for a court appearance and had similar interactions with a Customs and Border Protection officer and an FBI agent, whom she directed to the chief judge’s office, the agent states in the affidavit.
After another judge — who is identified as Judge A in the filing — led them away, Dugan allegedly “escorted Flores-Ruiz and his counsel out of the courtroom through the ‘jury door,’” leading to a nonpublic area, the agent alleges. The FBI agent said that was “unusual” because the courtroom deputy indicated that door was only used by “deputies, juries, court staff, and in-custody defendants being escorted by deputies. … Defense attorneys and defendants who were not in custody never used the jury door.”
Flores-Ruiz and his attorney were eventually spotted by a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, who followed them into an elevator and alerted other agents, who found them and identified themselves, the agent states in the affidavit. Flores-Ruiz then allegedly “turned around and sprinted down the street,” but was ultimately apprehended, according to the FBI agent.
On Jan. 21, ICE issued a directive on “Enforcement Actions in or Near Courthouses.” The interim guidance allows for ICE officers and agents to “conduct civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses when they have credible information that leads them to believe the targeted alien(s) is or will be present at a specific location, and where such action is not precluded by laws imposed by the jurisdiction in which the civil immigration enforcement action will take place.”
The FBI agent alleges Dugan conducted hearings on the morning docket. Later, an assistant district attorney identified as “Attorney B” realized Flores-Ruiz’s case had never been called, asked the court about it, and was informed it was adjourned. The affidavit alleges, “This happened without Attorney B’s knowledge or participation, even though Attorney B was present in court to handle Flores-Ruiz’s case on behalf of the state.”
The Journal Sentinel reported earlier this week that the FBI was investigating Dugan for trying to help an undocumented immigrant evade arrest.
Dugan told the paper in an email that “Nearly every fact regarding the ‘tips’ in your email is inaccurate.” Sources told the Journal Sentinel that immigration authorities were in Dugan’s courtroom on April 18.
This article has been updated with further information on the complaint.
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Nuha Dolby is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.