Wisconsin Supreme Court Suspends Judge Accused of Helping Migrant Evade ICE

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended a judge in the state who’s accused of helping an undocumented immigrant evade arrest by federal authorities, the Associated Press reported.

Why It Matters

The suspension of Milwaukee judge Hannah Dugan comes as the Trump administration is in an escalating battle with the judiciary over its aggressive campaign to ramp up deportations, including deporting those who have not been convicted of crimes.

Newsweek reached out to Dugan’s attorney for comment via email.

What To Know

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court said in a two-page order that it was suspending Dugan to protect public trust in the state’s courts, adding that it was acting on its own accord and not at the orders of anyone.

“It is ordered … that Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah C. Dugan is temporarily prohibited from exercising the powers of a circuit court judge in the state of Wisconsin, effective the date of this order and until further order of the court,” the order said.

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has a 4-3 liberal majority.

The FBI took Dugan into custody on Friday and the judge has been charged with concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest and obstructing or impeding a proceeding.

“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,” FBI Director Kash Patel announced on X, formerly Twitter, shortly after Dugan’s arrest.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) accuses Dugan of helping Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 30-year-old Mexican national in court on battery charges, leave her courtroom through the jury door when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers showed up to arrest him.

According to an FBI affidavit, Dugan was “visibly angry” when the ICE agents arrived at the courthouse and called the situation “absurd.” The court filing went on to say that she and another judge approached ICE agents in the courthouse and had a back-and-forth with them about a warrant for Flores-Ruiz.

She then demanded that the ICE agents talk to the chief judge at the courthouse and led them away from her courtroom, the affidavit said.

After directing the agents to the chief judge’s office, the affidavit said, Dugan went back to her courtroom and was heard saying, “Wait, come with me,” before leading Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer through the jury door.

Flores-Ruiz was arrested after a brief foot chase, the government said.

Trump pledged during his 2024 campaign that he would carry out mass deportations on “day one” of his second term. Since he took office, Trump’s administration has also cracked down on immigration enforcement, revoked the visas of international students who have protested Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip and scaled back legal pathways for migrants to enter the U.S.

Last month, the administration deported more than 200 migrants to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador. Many of the deportees have not been convicted of crimes, though the administration has alleged that they have ties to the MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gangs.

The White House’s aggressive deportation campaign has drawn sharp rebukes from multiple federal judges and pushback from the Supreme Court, who ordered the administration to “facilitate” the return of one of the deportees, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to the United States. As of Tuesday, Abrego Garcia is still being held at CECOT.

What People Are Saying

Craig Mastantuono, Dugan’s lawyer, said in court after her arrest: “Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety.”

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, said in a statement: “In this country, people who are suspected of criminal wrongdoing are innocent until their guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt and they are found guilty by a jury of their peers—this is the fundamental demand of justice in America.”

He added: “Unfortunately, we have seen in recent months the president and the Trump Administration repeatedly use dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level, including flat-out disobeying the highest court in the land and threatening to impeach and remove judges who do not rule in their favor.”

Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas said in a Fox News interview: “In America, no one is above the law, including public officials and judges, and I say that as a former Texas state judge myself for 13 years, so this is pretty egregious stuff.

Cornyn said Trump is “following through” on his campaign pledge to enforce immigration laws, adding: “If it means that people, including elected officials like judges, are obstructing the law and obstructing that process, they should be investigated, and they should be prosecuted,” he said. “This sounds like a case of misplaced sympathy by those who are somehow saying the judge is being treated unfairly.”