Judge who obstructed ICE agents from arresting illegal immigrant resigns

A Milwaukee County judge has resigned from the bench after being found guilty of obstructing a federal immigration arrest.

Judge Hannah Dugan, who had presided on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court for nearly a decade, submitted her resignation to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Saturday, effective immediately. 

Her resignation comes weeks after a federal jury convicted her of a felony count of obstruction for actions that prosecutors said interfered with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who were trying to arrest a Mexican national, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, into custody after he appeared in Dugan’s courtroom on a state charge. 

Prosecutors said Dugan redirected the agents to another judge’s office, and then escorted Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a private jury door. Flores-Ruiz was ultimately caught nearby and has since been deported. 

In her resignation letter, Dugan said she had long worked to treat people before her court with dignity and fairness, but that the ongoing federal case against her had become a “distraction” that could undermine the independence of the judiciary. She wrote that Wisconsin residents deserved a fully functioning court rather than one consumed by political battles. 

“As you know, I am the subject of unprecedented federal legal proceedings, which are far from concluded but which present immense and complex challenges that threaten the independence of our judiciary. I am pursuing this fight for myself and for our independent judiciary,” Dugan wrote, according to the AP.

Her exit avoids a looming impeachment fight initiated that Republican lawmakers had been preparing to pursue.