Rewritten Article (informal style)
Judge Dugan Slapped with Federal Charges for Aiding an Undocumented Immigrant
Judge in Wisconsin denies guilt for aiding a specific individual in evading law enforcement.
By TODD RICHMOND
MILWAUKEE - Oh man, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan plead not guilty to charges accusing her of assisting an undocumented man escape U.S. immigration authorities at her courthouse last month.
The dramatic scene unfolded on Thursday during a brief arraignment in federal court. Magistrate Judge Stephen Dries set a trial date for July 21. Dugan's main attorney, Steven Biskupic, told the judge that the trial should last around a week.
Dugan, her lawyers, and prosecutors beat a hasty exit without commenting to the journalists present.
Check out the protestors outside the United States Federal Building and Courthouse in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday, April 15, 2025 ahead of Dugan's arraignment. They were rallying to support the judge, holding signs that read, "Department of Justice Over-Reach" and "Keep Your Hands Off Our Judges!!" The crowd chanted phrases like, "Due process rights" and "Si se puede" (Spanish for "Yes, we can").
A lone protester stood across the street, unfurling a Trump flag.
Nancy Camden, a resident from suburban Mequon north of Milwaukee, was one of the many demonstrators calling for the case to be squashed. She believes ICE shouldn't have nabbed Flores-Ruiz inside the courthouse and the Department of Justice "overstepped" by pressing charges against Dugan.
"How they handled this and made a big show of arresting her and putting her in cuffs, it was intimidation," Camden said. "And I'm not gonna be intimidated. I'm fighting back."
Esther Cabrera, an organizer with the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, referred to the charges against Dugan as "state-funded repression."
"If we're gonna go after judges, if we're gonna go after mayors, we have to understand that they can come after anyone," Cabrera said. "And that's kind of why we wanted to make a presence out here today is to say that you can't come after everyone, and it stops here."
The Allegations Against Dugan
Dugan is accused of concealing an individual to thwart arrest and obstructing justice. Prosecutors claim she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back door on April 18, 2025, after discovering that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse seeking to apprehend him for being in the country illegally. Conviction on both counts could see her spending up to six years behind bars.
Her lawyers have branded her as innocent. They went as far as filing a motion on Wednesday to kick the case out, arguing that she was performing her judicial duties and is therefore immune to prosecution. They also allege that the federal government breached Wisconsin's sovereignty by disrupting a state courtroom and prosecuting a state judge.
The Accused Immigrant
Records show that Flores-Ruiz illegally re-entered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. In March of this year, he faced three counts of domestic abuse in Milwaukee County. He was in Dugan's courtroom on April 18 for a hearing in that case.
Witnesses allege that Dugan angrily confronted the ICE agents, calling the situation "absurd", before retreating to her chambers. She and another judge later approached the arrest team in the courthouse with a heated, confrontational demeanor.
After some back-and-forth regarding the warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan demanded that the agents converse with the chief judge and led them out of the courtroom. The ensuing chaos on court premises resulted in Dugan's suspension from the Wisconsin Supreme Court last week [1].
- The business of justice in Milwaukee is under scrutiny as Judge Hannah Dugan faces charges related to aiding an undocumented immigrant, stirring debates in the general-news and politics arena.
- In a courtroom drama, Judge Dugan's trial, set for July 21, is expected to delve into allegations of law violations, specifically law obstruction and concealment, within the broader context of immigration policy and government-justice system interactions.
- Protests have erupted, with voices in the crime-and-justice and general-news sectors, advocating for the dismissal of charges against Dugan, arguing that the Department of Justice overstepped its bounds in the case.
- In a particularly heated exchange, a Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression organizer, Esther Cabrera, labeled the charges against Dugan as "state-funded repression," warning of potential broader implications for judges and government officials.
- At the heart of the controversy is Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an immigrant accused of re-entering the U.S. illegally after deportation and facing domestic abuse charges, whose encounter with ICE agents within the courthouse premises set off a chain of events leading to Judge Dugan's federal charges.
