US judge arrested for ‘obstructing’ Donald Trump administration's immigration enforcement
FBI director Kash Patel said in a social media post that federal agents arrested a judge on obstruction charges. The post is now deleted.
US federal agents on Friday arrested a Wisconsin judge in what appeared to be a dispute between President Donald Trump's administration and local officials over immigration enforcement.
The US Marshals Service spokesperson informed the media about the arrest, saying that a Milwaukee County circuit judge, identified as Hannah Dugan, was arrested at the courthouse on Friday morning.
According to a Reuters report, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Kash Patel said in a social media post that federal agents arrested a judge on obstruction charges related to an immigration enforcement operation last week. The post was later deleted.
Apart from the now-deleted post, the FBI hasn't commented on the matter at the time of filing of this report.
The Trump administration has faced a lot of legal hurdles in implementing its strict immigration policy. Many of the attempts have been blocked by several courts, bringing the executive and the judiciary in the country on loggerheads.
Arrest after federal prosecutors urged to pursue criminal cases against local officials
The judge’s arrest comes after a senior Justice Department official called on federal prosecutors to pursue criminal cases against local government officials who obstructed the administration's immigration crackdown.
According to the memo quoted by Reuters, officials could be charged with defrauding the US or harboring immigrants who are in the country unlawfully.
FBI director Kash Patel said in his deleted post that immigration officials had been attempting to apprehend Eduardo Flores Ruiz, whom he described as an "illegal alien."
"Thankfully, our agents chased down the perp on foot, and he's been in custody since," Patel added.
Wisconsin court records show that a man by the name mentioned in Patel’s post appeared in judge Hannah Dugan's courtroom for a pretrial conference on April 18. According to the records, Ruiz was facing misdemeanor battery charges related to domestic abuse.
