ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Early this morning, FBI agents arrested a county judge in Milwaukee on federal charges. The judge, Hannah Dugan, is accused of helping a man try to evade a planned arrest at her courthouse by immigration authorities. NPR Justice correspondent Ryan Lucas is here to explain what we know. Hi, Ryan.
RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: Hi there.
SHAPIRO: To start with the person at the center of this, what can you tell us about Judge Hannah Dugan?
LUCAS: Well, she's 65 years old. She's had a long career in the - legal career in the Milwaukee area. She's a former president of the Milwaukee Bar Association. For several years, she served as the executive director at the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. A local news article when she left that job actually described her as a longtime advocate for the vulnerable and the poor.
She currently serves, of course, as a Milwaukee County circuit judge. It's an elected position. She was elected to the bench in 2016. Her current term expires in 2028. But federal agents, as you noted, arrested her around 8:30 this morning at the courthouse.
SHAPIRO: And what are the charges? What do prosecutors say she did?
LUCAS: Well, she faces two counts, obstruction and concealing an individual to prevent an arrest. According to court papers, federal agents showed up at the county courthouse on April 18 to arrest a man who was set to appear before Judge Dugan that morning. The man was there on misdemeanor charges of domestic assault, but ICE was there to arrest him for allegedly being in the U.S. unlawfully.
Prosecutors say that Dugan became aware that ICE was there to arrest the man. Court papers say that she was visibly upset. She confronted the agents. They allegedly showed her a warrant for the man's arrest, and they agreed to wait until after the court hearing before her to arrest him in the public hallway of the courthouse. But court papers say that Dugan later escorted the man and his attorney out of her courtroom through a back door, so away from ICE agents waiting in the public hallway outside her courtroom, and the man left the courthouse. Federal agents saw him leave. They chased him outside and eventually caught him and arrested him.
SHAPIRO: This seems like a really big step, for the FBI to go after a judge in a case like this. How significant is it?
LUCAS: Well, it certainly is significant. It's an escalation for sure in the Trump administration's clash with the judiciary. It also sends a message about the priority that immigration enforcement is for the White House. Attorney General Pam Bondi was on Fox News today. She was asked about this. Here's a little bit of what she said.
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PAM BONDI: I think some of these judges think they are beyond and above the law, and they are not.
LUCAS: She also said the Justice Department is sending what she called a strong message with this arrest. She said, no matter who you are, if you're harboring anyone who is in this country illegally, she says the Justice Department will come after you and prosecute you.
It is rare for something like this to happen, for the feds to arrest a sitting judge, but it is not the first time that federal agents have done so. They - federal agents arrested a judge back in 2018, so during the first Trump administration. A judge in Massachusetts faced federal charges for allegedly allowing someone to leave a courthouse through a back door to evade arrest by ICE, so very similar circumstances. That was tied up in the courts for years before the Biden Justice Department struck a deal to drop the felony charges and instead refer the judge to a commission on judicial conduct.
SHAPIRO: Well, in today's case, what's the response been in Milwaukee, and what happens next?
LUCAS: The mayor of Milwaukee, Cavalier Johnson, criticized the Trump administration over Dugan's arrest. He said that it will deter people without legal status from coming to court. Here's a little bit of what he said.
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CAVALIER JOHNSON: They're not going to participate in court cases if they fear being swept up in immigration enforcement. That's exactly the groundwork that the Trump administration has laid here in what is quite evidently an attempt to showboat. And it's unfortunate. I think it makes our community less safe.
LUCAS: Now, Dugan was in court today for her initial appearance. Her attorney said that Dugan regrets and protests her arrest. He said it was not made in the interest of public safety. Dugan, though, was released after her court hearing, and she's scheduled to reappear for her arraignment in the middle of next month.
SHAPIRO: NPR's Ryan Lucas, thank you.
LUCAS: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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