Federal Judge Arrested Over Altercation With ICE

A prominent Milwaukee County judge was arrested on April 25 after being accused of helping an undocumented immigrant evade arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents inside the courthouse.

On Friday (April 25), a report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed Judge Hannah Dugan, 65, faces multiple felony charges including obstructing a federal agency and concealing a person from arrest. The charges stem from an incident on April 18, when Dugan presided over a pretrial hearing for Eduardo Flores-Ruiz—a 35-year-old undocumented immigrant from Mexico. Flores-Ruiz, who has lived in Milwaukee for more than a decade and worked as a cook, was facing three misdemeanor battery charges related to a domestic incident involving two roommates.

According to a 13-page federal complaint, ICE agents had secured an arrest warrant for Flores-Ruiz the day before his court appearance. On the morning of the hearing, six plainclothes members of the ICE task force, joined by FBI and DEA agents, informed Dugan’s courtroom bailiff they would arrest Flores-Ruiz after the proceeding.

What followed was an unusual courtroom altercation. The complaint alleges that Judge Dugan, after being informed of the agents’ presence, called the situation “absurd” left the bench and returned visibly upset. She reportedly told the federal team their administrative warrant was not sufficient and insisted they take the matter to Chief Judge Carl Ashley.

Witnesses said Dugan then expedited the hearing and “forcefully motioned” for Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer to exit through a side door leading to a hallway and the courthouse’s public area. Minutes later, federal agents chased Flores-Ruiz down and arrested him near the intersection of West State Street and North 10th Street. He has since been charged federally with illegal re-entry and remains in ICE custody at Dodge Detention Facility.

Judge Dugan’s attorney, Steve Biskupic, said the judge will “vigorously defend herself” against what he described as an unjust arrest. He noted Dugan’s long-standing commitment to due process and said she looks forward to being exonerated.

Her arrest has sparked national attention and political outrage. Critics of the Trump-era immigration policy, including Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, described the arrest as excessive and politically motivated.

“If a judge is being arrested in a courthouse, just imagine the chilling effect that it sends to other folks who would otherwise participate in judicial proceedings in our courthouse – and not just in the Milwaukee County Courthouse, but courthouses across the state of Wisconsin and courthouses across the United States,” Johnson said.

Meanwhile, conservative lawmakers applauded the action, framing it as a message to public officials not to obstruct immigration enforcement.

Watch the report above for more details.

Related