Judge Hannah Dugan attorney claims FBI probe ICE obstruction arrest ‘not made in the interest of public safety’

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested by the FBI on Friday, April 25, 2025. She faces charges related to accusations that she interfered with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation. The arrest was announced in a social media post by FBI Director Kash Patel, though the post was later deleted.

As reported by ABC and Yahoo, The situation quickly led to concerns about the balance of power between federal immigration enforcement and the independence of local judges. The charges against Judge Dugan involve an incident on April 18.

At the time, federal agents working with ICE had an administrative warrant to arrest Eduardo Flores Ruiz, an undocumented immigrant. Flores Ruiz was in Judge Dugan’s courtroom for a pretrial hearing on unrelated misdemeanor battery charges. According to the complaint, after being told about the warrant, Judge Dugan supposedly helped Flores Ruiz and his lawyer leave the courtroom through a less busy jury door. This action allegedly allowed Flores Ruiz to avoid being detained by ICE agents at that moment.

A judge is arrested for allegedly helping an immigrant escape ICE

Flores Ruiz was caught soon afterward, but the FBI claims Judge Dugan’s actions actively interfered with federal law enforcement and put public safety at risk by letting someone they consider potentially dangerous briefly escape custody. The FBI argues that her behavior amounts to obstruction of justice and hiding someone to prevent their arrest.

Per PBS, Judge Dugan appeared in U.S. District Court on Friday and was released without having to pay bail. Her lawyer, Craig Mastantuono, strongly disagreed with the arrest and the charges. He said the arrest was unnecessary and not in the public’s best interest. He also argued that Judge Dugan did not mean to obstruct justice and that other reasons drove her actions, though he did not publicly specify the reasons.

If convicted, Judge Dugan could face up to six years in prison for the two charges against her. This case is especially important because it happened during an increasingly tense dispute between the Trump administration and some parts of the judicial system over the administration’s strict immigration policies.

In January 2025, the Department of Justice released a memo instructing prosecutors to look into and possibly file criminal charges against state and local officials who interfere with federal immigration operations. The memo specifically mentions pursuing charges against people who block official proceedings, including those who knowingly help individuals living in the country illegally avoid arrest. Judge Dugan’s arrest clearly fits within the scope of this memo.

The arrest of Judge Dugan could set a dangerous precedent. This could possibly make state and federal authorities less willing to work together. The next major step in this complicated and fast-moving legal fight will be the court date on May 15.