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FBI investigating allegations Milwaukee County judge tried to help undocumented defendant avoid arrest
The FBI is looking into whether veteran Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan tried to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest when that person was scheduled to appear in her courtroom last week, sources told the Journal Sentinel.
In an email to judges, Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carl Ashley said agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement came to the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18 with an arrest warrant. But his note made no mention of Dugan or a federal investigation into her conduct.
ICE spokesperson Alethea Smock declined to comment.
"We have no information to provide at this point," Smock said in an email.
The FBI said in an email on April 23: "As a standard practice, the FBI does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations."
The Journal Sentinel reached out to Dugan by phone, at her courtroom and via email in recent days. In an April 22 email, Dugan said, "Nearly every fact regarding the 'tips' in your email is inaccurate."
Last week's incident marks at least the third time in recent months that federal immigration agents have come to the courthouse to make arrests. In March and early April,
two people were arrested by ICE officials in the hallways of the courthouse.
Conservative talk show host Dan O'Donnell was the first to report on the most recent incident.
According to Ashley's April 18 email, ICE agents showed up at the courthouse in the morning and identified themselves to security. They then went to the sixth floor, where Dugan's courtroom is located.
"They were asked whether they had a warrant, and the agents presented the warrant as well as their identification," Ashley's email says. "They were asked to go to Chief Judge's office. They complied. … They presented a warrant, which we copied."
Ashley said the ICE agents were asked to wait until the court hearing had concluded. All of the agents' actions, he said, "were consistent with our draft policies, but we're still in the process of conferring on the draft."
Earlier this month, Ashley said the ICE arrests at the courthouse were not unprecedented. He then assured county officials that he was
working on a policy that is both legally strong and permits access to the courthouse complex.
As of last week, a draft copy of the policy was circulated among judicial system partners and was to be released soon, according to Ashley.
Ashley's April 18 email does not mention the name of the defendant or whether the individual was ultimately arrested. Court records list only one case on Dugan's calendar for that date, but it was scheduled for 1:30 p.m., not when ICE arrived in the morning.
Early on April 21, Dugan wrote a one-sentence response to Ashley's email.
"As a point of clarification below, a warrant was not presented in the hallway on the 6th floor," Dugan wrote.
Questions raised about administrative warrant vs. judicial warrant
That prompted Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Marisabel Cabrera to say in a later email to the other judges that her understanding was that ICE agents had presented an administrative warrant, not a judicial warrant.
Margaret "Maggie" Daun, a talk show host and general counsel for Civic Media, said there is a significant difference between a judicial warrant and an administrative warrant.
"A judicial warrant is issued by a federal court based on probable cause and permits law enforcement to enter premises that are not public and search to seize property or arrest someone subject to the protections of the 4th Amendment," said Daun, who previously served as Milwaukee County's chief legal officer. "An ICE or administrative warrant is issued by an ICE official and is not required to meet the requirements of the 4th Amendment," which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
Daun said people can refuse to allow agents to enter or search a property if they only have an "immigration" warrant and not a valid judicial warrant signed by a judge.
"You do not need to open the door or permit entry or a search when presented only with an ICE or so-called 'immigration' warrant," she said.
In her email, Cabrera raised concerns about how the chief judge is planning to respond to warrants from immigration officials under his draft policy.
"If the proposed protocol is to accept these warrants, I find it problematic," wrote Cabrera, who was elected in 2024. "In effect, the protocol seems to merely facilitate ICE arrests in a manner that is quiet and least disruptive to us. On the other hand, the protocol gives the illusion to the general public that steps are being taken in the courthouse to prevent ICE overreach."
Cabrera, a former immigration lawyer and Democratic lawmaker, said federal immigration agents have made "grave errors" in their arrests, made false allegations and blatantly violated the U.S. Constitution.
"I have serious concerns about publicly giving the appearance the protocol is somehow making it safe for folks to come to court when in fact they may still be arrested by ICE and deported to a brutal detention center in El Salvador," she wrote.
Cabrera said the public should be aware that they're assuming this risk when they come to the courthouse.
"I cannot in good conscience support a protocol that gives the impression that it was created to do something about how ICE conducts its business in the courthouse, where all the protocol does is to require ICE to check in with the Chief Judge first and then proceed as they wish."
Courthouse arrests raised concerns about access to justice system
Following the earlier arrests at the courthouse,
county officials and stakeholders have
expressed concerns about the impact ICE's presence has on immigrants' accessing the justice system and other services at the courthouse.
Darryl Morin, national president of the advocacy group Forward Latino, said he is still trying to get information about the incident, but he stressed the "significant difference between presenting an administrative warrant and a judicial warrant," which is signed by a judge.
He added that Republican and Democratic presidents in the past have strongly discouraged sending ICE agents to conduct immigration enforcement actions at "sensitive sites" like courthouses, churches, and schools. Sending ICE agents to courthouses, for example, is creating doubt and mistrust of the judicial system, "and, by extension, law enforcement and public safety," Morin said.
On April 22, state Rep. Bob Donovan, R-Greenfield, expressed outrage in a news release that Dugan may have helped an undocumented immigrant evade arrest from federal agents.
“In all my years of Milwaukee politics and public safety issues, working with cops, district attorneys, and judges, I have never seen a more irresponsible act by an officer of the court, let alone a judge, if true," said Donovan, a longtime Milwaukee alderman. "This borders on obstruction of justice and I hope the FBI continues a thorough investigation and, if warranted, prosecution to the fullest extent of the law."
Dugan is still hearing cases. Her docket is full the rest of this week, online court records show.
Dugan was elected to Branch 31 of the Circuit Court in 2016 by knocking off an appointee of Republican Gov. Scott Walker and primarily handles misdemeanor cases.
Before that, the University of Wisconsin law school graduate practiced at Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. and Legal Aid Society, Inc. as a litigation attorney and in law firm administrative positions.
Her current judicial term expires in 2028.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news...ocumented-defendant-evade-arrest/83220833007/
