A US federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted a Wisconsin judge on charges of concealing a person from immigration agents, after she was taken into custody and accused of helping an undocumented migrant avoid arrest.
US President Donald Trump has delivered on campaign promises to conduct a sweeping crackdown on undocumented migrants since coming to power in January, and has clashed with several courts which have argued he has not followed due process.
Hannah Dugan, a 66-year-old Milwaukee County circuit judge, was arrested last month and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on an obstruction charge, if convicted, in a case that has sparked a national uproar.
Dugan is accused of helping a Mexican national escape her courtroom after she learned that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, among other federal officials, were seeking to detain the man in the hallway.
Dugan’s arrest set off a torrent of criticism by Democrats and applause by some Republicans.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi defended Dugan’s arrest, issuing a chilling warning to those who may harbor illegal aliens: “We will find you.”
“We’re sending a very strong message today,” Bondi told Fox News at the time.
Charging documents described the incident at Dugan’s courthouse in April during which the judge was “visibly upset and had a confrontational, angry demeanor” when federal agents came to arrest the migrant — named as Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 30, who was facing misdemeanor charges.
The complaint alleges Dugan escorted Flores-Ruiz out of the courtroom through a door used by jury members in order to keep him from the agents.
Flores-Ruiz made it outside the building, but was arrested while attempting to flee from law enforcement officers, the criminal complaint in the case says.
A number of federal and state judges across the United States have issued rulings that put several of Trump’s executive actions on hold, particularly those related to his bid to exercise unprecedented powers in deporting migrants.
The Trump administration has been butting heads with federal judges, rights groups and Democrats who say he has trampled or ignored constitutionally enshrined rights in rushing to deport migrants, sometimes without a hearing.
Dugan, who was elected to the bench in 2016, is expected to plead not guilty at the next hearing, which is scheduled for Thursday.
“Judge Dugan asserts her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court,” her lawyers said in a statement, according to the New York Times.
