Our Descent to Fascism Accelerates as FBI Arrests Judge for Not Deporting Immigrant Man

All of this is part and parcel of the Trump administration’s efforts to purge and retaliate against anyone who disagrees with them.

By Kylie Cheung | April 25, 2025 | 3:02pm

Photo: LinkedIn Latest Politics

Our Descent to Fascism Accelerates as FBI Arrests Judge for Not Deporting Immigrant Man

Not 24 hours after President Trump’s official merch store started ominously shilling “TRUMP 2028” hats, federal agents arrested a Wisconsin judge for allegedly helping an immigrant man evade arrest.

On Friday, FBI Director Kash Patel smugly announced Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan’s arrest on Twitter—only to conspicuously delete the post minutes later without an explanation. But Attorney General Pam Bondi later tweeted, “I can confirm that our FBI agents just arrested Hannah Dugan—a county judge in Milwaukee—for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid an arrest by ICE. No one is above the law.” Of course, to Bondi, “the law” is whatever Trump wants, all while the convicted felon himself doesn’t have to abide by anything.

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In addition to Bondi, law enforcement officials also confirmed Dugan’s arrest to NBC News, echoing the claim that she helped an immigrant man named Eduardo Flores-Ruiz evade police. The FBI hasn’t officially confirmed Flores-Ruiz, but NBC News, the New York Times, and other outlets have reported his identity. Dugan’s been charged with obstructing a proceeding of a federal agency and concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest, according to the NYT.

Patel wrote in his since-deleted post that Dugan “intentionally misdirected federal agents away” from Flores-Ruiz as agents attempted to arrest him at Dugan’s courthouse last week. While the details provided by Patel and the FBI are deliberately murky, what seems clear is that Dugan didn’t wish to deport a resident under her jurisdiction, and so Trump’s FBI arrested her—and subsequently reportedly arrested Flores-Ruiz, who Patel described as a “danger to the public.”

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dugan deals “exclusively” with misdemeanor cases. Flores-Ruiz reportedly faces three misdemeanor battery charges stemming from a March 12 altercation with a roommate who accused him of playing music too loudly. Per the Journal, he punched his roommate and also struck a woman who tried to break up the fight. He appeared in Dugan’s court on April 18 for a pre-trial conference, which was when ICE agents attempted to arrest him.

“Despite having been advised of the administrative warrant for the arrest of Flores-Ruiz, Judge Dugan then escorted Flores-Ruiz and his counsel out of the courtroom through the ‘jury door,’ which leads to a nonpublic area of the courthouse,” the FBI complaint read, according to the NYT.

Per NBC News, Dugan was in custody early Friday morning ahead of her presentment later in the day in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee, but has since been released. At the brief hearing, her attorney Craig Mastantuono, told the court: “Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety.” The Journal reports that in recent months, ICE agents have repeatedly come to Dugan’s courthouse with arrest warrants. In March and April, ICE officials made at least two arrests in the courthouse.

Dugan’s arrest comes as the Trump administration’s relationship with the judicial branch grows more and more contentious. Earlier this month, the administration openly defied a 9-0 ruling from the Supreme Court that Trump must facilitate the return of American resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to serve a life sentence in an El Salvador prison without due process. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Republicans have vocally criticized judges and justices who rule against the administration, increasingly putting them in physical danger, and even questioning the judicial branch’s authority over the president, as a whole.

Franklyn Gimbel, a Milwaukee defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, called Dugan’s arrest “outrageous,” telling the Journal: “First and foremost, I know—as a former federal prosecutor and as a defense lawyer for decades—that a person who is a judge, who has a residence who has no problem being found, should not be arrested, if you will, like some common criminal,” Gimbel said. “And I’m shocked and surprised that the US Attorney’s office or the FBI would not have invited her to show up and accept process if they’re going to charge her with a crime.”

This is a developing story.

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