A Milwaukee judge who now faces federal charges for allegedly shielding a man from immigration agents told police just days before her arrest that she had done nothing wrong.
Body camera footage released Friday shows Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan speaking with officers at her home in April, saying “I didn’t do anything that they’re saying.” Dugan had called police after she and her family discovered flyers from an anti-government group outside their homes. She denied any awareness that federal investigators were looking into her courtroom conduct.
Weeks earlier, on April 18, federal prosecutors say Dugan escorted 31-year-old Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a side door after learning that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse to arrest him. Flores-Ruiz was wanted for being in the country without permanent legal status. Four days later, agents arrested him outside the courthouse after a brief chase.
Dugan has since been indicted on two charges: obstruction of a federal agency, a felony, and concealing a person from arrest, a misdemeanor. She has pleaded not guilty and is fighting to have the charges dismissed. If convicted, she could face up to six years in prison and a $350,000 fine.
In her comments to police, Dugan insisted she was unaware of Flores-Ruiz’s immigration status. “I don’t know if he’s an illegal immigrant, which is what they’re claiming,” she told officers. “When they come in front of me, I’m not supposed to know that.” She also denied accusations that she hid him in her chambers or jury room, saying instead that she directed him out the back door — something she claimed she sometimes does depending on the circumstances.
Court security video showed Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer exiting a side hallway about 12 feet from the main courtroom entrance. An FBI affidavit alleges Dugan told them, “wait, come with me,” before opening the door.
Her defense attorneys argue that she was simply managing the flow of people in her courtroom — a core function of her job. As such, they say, she should be shielded by judicial immunity. Dugan herself told officers she had directed ICE agents to another part of the building, adding, “What happened after that is their business.”
The case has quickly become a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement efforts. Supporters say prosecutors are trying to make an example out of her, while critics argue that judges cannot obstruct federal law.
For her part, Dugan has largely stayed silent in public, but her words to police still hang in the air: “It’s all lies. I didn’t do anything that they’re saying.”
