Democratic lawmakers reacted with ferocity — and some Republicans with cheers — to the Friday arrest of Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly helping an undocumented defendant avoid arrest by ICE agents.
Why it matters: To Democrats, the arrest marks a significant escalation in President Trump’s efforts to consolidate power and use federal law enforcement to crush legal obstacles to his agenda.
- “It is remarkable that the Administration would dare to start arresting state court judges,” said House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). “It’s a whole new descent into government chaos.”
- “The Trump administration again is breaking norms in how it’s dealing with immigration, the legal system, and normalcy. … This is stuff I expect from Third World countries,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) told Axios.
- Said Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio): “They arrested a judge?! They can no longer claim to be a party of law and order. This will have to be a red line for congressional Republicans. Unbelievable.”
What happened: Dugan was arrested Friday morning at the Milwaukee County Courthouse on charges of obstruction and concealing an individual, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- The Milwaukee County Circuit judge is in federal custody and was scheduled to appear before a U.S. magistrate later Friday.
- A source familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the arrest to Axios.
- FBI Director Kash Patel, in a now-deleted post on X, accused Dugan of “intentionally misdirect[ing]” ICE agents who were attempting to arrest Eduardo Flores Ruiz, an undocumented defendant in her courtroom.
The other side: Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisc.) told Axios, “It is abundantly clear that many activist judges around the country have been acting politically in order to sabotage President Trump’s agenda, and disenfranchise the 77 million Americans that voted for him.”
- “Judges are not supposed to write the law, and they certainly are not above it,” he added.
- Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), a staunch Trump ally, told Axios he, too, supports the arrest, exclaiming, “Lock em up!!”
- Said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.): “If she broke the law, she needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent. No double standards.”
What to watch: Democrats are already calling for an investigation into the arrest and the facts surrounding it.
- “If ICE is allowed to be above the law, then clearly they need to have their operation looked at closely,” said Pocan.
- Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), a House Judiciary Committee member, said there should “absolutely” be a probe: “On the face of it, this is dangerous and outrageous and it is designed to intimidate our judiciary.”
