FBI arrests a Milwaukee judge accused of helping a man evade immigration
authorities
[April 26, 2025]
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, DEVI SHASTRI and SCOTT BAUER
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The FBI on Friday arrested a Milwaukee judge accused of
helping a man evade immigration authorities, escalating a clash between
the Trump administration and local authorities over the Republican
president’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of
escorting the man and his lawyer out of her courtroom through the jury
door last week after learning that immigration authorities were seeking
his arrest. The man was taken into custody outside the courthouse after
agents chased him on foot.
President Donald Trump's administration has accused state and local
officials of interfering with his immigration enforcement priorities.
The arrest also comes amid a growing battle between the administration
and the federal judiciary over the president’s executive actions over
deportations and other matters.
Dugan was taken into custody by the FBI on Friday morning on the
courthouse grounds, according to U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson
Brady McCarron. She appeared briefly in federal court in Milwaukee later
Friday before being released from custody. She faces charges of
“concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest” and
obstructing or impeding a proceeding.
“Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not
made in the interest of public safety," her attorney, Craig Mastantuono,
said during the hearing. He declined to comment to an Associated Press
reporter following her court appearance.
Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, in a statement on the arrest,
accused the Trump administration of repeatedly using “dangerous rhetoric
to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level.”

“I will continue to put my faith in our justice system as this situation
plays out in the court of law," he said.
Court papers suggest Dugan was alerted to the presence of U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the courthouse by her
clerk, who was informed by an attorney that they appeared to be in the
hallway.
The FBI affidavit describes Dugan as “visibly angry” over the arrival of
immigration agents in the courthouse and says that she pronounced the
situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her
chambers. It says she and another judge later approached members of the
arrest team inside the courthouse, displaying what witnesses described
as a “confrontational, angry demeanor.”
After a back-and-forth with officers over the warrant for the man,
Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, she demanded that the arrest team speak with the
chief judge and led them away from the courtroom, the affidavit says.
After directing the arrest team to the chief judge's office,
investigators say, Dugan returned to the courtroom and was heard saying
words to the effect of “wait, come with me” before ushering Flores-Ruiz
and his lawyer through a jury door into a non-public area of the
courthouse. The action was unusual, the affidavit says, because “only
deputies, juries, court staff, and in-custody defendants being escorted
by deputies used the back jury door. Defense attorneys and defendants
who were not in custody never used the jury door.”
A sign that remained posted on Dugan’s courtroom door Friday advised
that if any attorney or other court official “knows or believes that a
person feels unsafe coming to the courthouse to courtroom 615,” they
should notify the clerk and request an appearance via Zoom.
Flores-Ruiz, 30, was in Dugan’s court for a hearing after being charged
with three counts of misdemeanor domestic battery. Confronted by a
roommate for playing loud music on March 12, Flores-Ruiz allegedly
fought with him in the kitchen and struck a woman who tried to break
them up, according to the police affidavit in the case.
Another woman who tried to break up the fight and called police
allegedly got elbowed in the arm by Flores-Ruiz.

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Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan speaks during a
rally marking the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine
on Feb. 24, 2025, in Milwaukee, Wis. (Lee Matz/Milwaukee Independent
via AP)

Flores-Ruiz faces up to nine months in prison and a $10,000 fine on
each count if convicted. His public defender, Alexander Kostal, did
not immediately return a phone message Friday seeking comment.
A federal judge, the same one Dugan would appear before a day later,
had ordered Thursday that Flores-Ruiz remain jailed pending trial.
Flores-Ruiz had been in the U.S. since reentering the country after
he was deported in 2013, according to court documents.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said victims were sitting in the
courtroom with state prosecutors when the judge helped him escape
immigration arrest.
“The rule of law is very simple," she said in a video posted on X.
"It doesn't matter what line of work you're in. If you break the
law, we will follow the facts and we will prosecute you.”
White House officials echoed the sentiment of no one being above the
law.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat who represents Wisconsin, called the
arrest of a sitting judge a “gravely serious and drastic move” that
“threatens to breach” the separation of power between the executive
and judicial branches.
Emilio De Torre, executive director of Milwaukee Turners, said
during a protest Friday afternoon outside the federal courthouse
that Dugan was a former board member for the local civic group who
“was certainly trying to make sure that due process is not disrupted
and that the sanctity of the courts is upheld.”
“Sending armed FBI and ICE agents into buildings like this will
intimidate individuals showing up to court to pay fines, to deal
with whatever court proceedings they may have,” De Torre added.
The case is similar to one brought during the first Trump
administration against a Massachusetts judge, who was accused of
helping a man sneak out a back door of a courthouse to evade a
waiting immigration enforcement agent.
That prosecution sparked outrage from many in the legal community,
who slammed the case as politically motivated. Prosecutors dropped
the case against Newton District Judge Shelley Joseph in 2022 under
the Democratic Biden administration after she agreed to refer
herself to a state agency that investigates allegations of
misconduct by members of the bench.
The Justice Department had previously signaled that it was going to
crack down on local officials who thwart federal immigration
efforts.
The department in January ordered prosecutors to investigate for
potential criminal charges any state and local officials who
obstruct or impede federal functions. As potential avenues for
prosecution, a memo cited a conspiracy offense as well as a law
prohibiting the harboring of people in the country illegally.

Dugan was elected in 2016 to the county court Branch 31. She also
has served in the court’s probate and civil divisions, according to
her judicial candidate biography.
Before being elected to public office, Dugan practiced at Legal
Action of Wisconsin and the Legal Aid Society. She graduated from
the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981 with a bachelor of arts
degree and earned her Juris Doctorate in 1987 from the school.
___
Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Eric
Tucker in Washington, Corey Williams in Detroit and Hallie Golden in
Seattle contributed.
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