Trump administration’s arrest of judge stirs debate over immigration courthouse arrests

Reuters:

WASHINGTON, May 13 – The arrest of a Wisconsin state court judge for allegedly helping a migrant evade U.S. authorities marks another salvo in a long-brewing debate about the presence of immigration agents in local courthouses.

The judge, Hannah Dugan of Milwaukee County’s circuit court, is due in federal court on Thursday to face charges of obstruction and harboring an individual due to face arrest. Dugan’s legal team argues she will be exonerated.

Republican President Donald Trump’s administration has broadened the ability of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to carry out courthouse arrests as it ramps up deportations and cracks down on illegal immigration.

ICE courthouse operations have drawn fierce resistance from immigration advocates and some state courts, who have argued since Trump’s first term that they risk disrupting court operations and dissuading millions of people from accessing the legal system.

The case against Dugan sits at the center of two themes of Trump’s second term: boundary-pushing immigration enforcement and forceful pushback against judges the administration sees as standing in the way of its authority.

“All of this adds to a sense of the judiciary being under attack,” said Jeremy Fogel, a former judge in California who now runs the Berkeley Judicial Institute. “Whether or not it’s going to be successful, it’s seen as part of a broader attempt to weaken or delegitimize the judiciary.”

Dugan is accused of helping an immigrant in the U.S. illegally who was due to appear on assault-related charges evade immigration authorities on April 18 by escorting him into a non-public hallway, according to a criminal complaint and local police documents. The migrant, identified as Eduardo Flores Ruiz, was arrested outside after a foot chase.

As of May 6, ICE had conducted 189 courthouse arrests since Trump returned to office in January, more than doubling its pace from the prior full year under Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration, according to a Reuters analysis of ICE data.