Wisconsin judge pleads not guilty to obstructing immigration arrest | Court News
Federal authorities claim that Judge Hannah Dugan helped an undocumented man escape arrest by immigrant agents.
A Wisconsin judge has filed a lawsuit against undocumented immigrants who accused her of helping her in court to avoid being arrested by immigration law enforcement officers.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was charged last month with hiding a person to prevent arrest and obstruction. If convicted of both charges, she could face up to six years in prison.
Dugan's attorney Steven Biskupic pleaded innocent on behalf of her during a brief interrogation in federal court Thursday, with a trial date scheduled for July 22.
Immigration authorities claimed she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a man in the United States, without documents, and his lawyer set out from the back door as immigration agents attempted to arrest him.
The case is latest, highlighting tensions between local officials and the Trump administration, saying civil liberties groups have tested the limitations of executive power to actively suppress immigrants.
Dugan left court Thursday without comment. A group of protesters outside the court chanted “Due to Procedure Rights” and “put your hand on our judges” and held signs that read “Only fascists arrest judges – abandon charges” and “The Ministry of Justice” and “Overreach.”
Immigration raids in sensitive positions have long been a matter of dispute, and the attacks that have left Americans reluctant to obtain legal aid or cooperate on legal matters.
The FBI affidavit said that when an aide told Dugan that the immigration agent appeared to be in the corridor outside the court, she called the situation “absurd” and later faced their arrest warrant with them.
The Trump administration has been saying it will try to punish local officials that do not help promote law enforcement, and even say legal action can be taken against them.
State and local officials in Democratic-led states also said in recent lawsuits that if Congress’s mission is to allocate federal funds, the government threatens to withhold federal funds if they don’t work hard with law enforcement and what they maintain is unconstitutional.