Wisconsin Judge Criminally Charged for Obstructing Deportations. Who’s Next?

As Democrats fret over possible arrests for opposing deportations, a federal grand jury has handed down an indictment against a Wisconsin judge who hid an illegal immigrant from law enforcement. A grand jury on Tuesday indicted Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan on charges of “knowingly concealing” an illegal immigrant named Eduardo Flores-Ruiz when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers showed up at the courthouse to arrest him and “corruptly endeavor[ing] to influence, obstruct, and impede the due and proper administration of the law” by actively trying to prevent the Mexican national’s arrest. Dugan was accused in the indictment of knowingly lying to ICE officers and telling Flores-Ruiz to leave by a back door to avoid being arrested.

Dugan was arrested last month after confronting and obstructing ICE agents waiting outside her courtroom to arrest Flores-Ruiz, who was in court for allegedly assaulting his roommate. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin reported that Flores-Ruiz “has a laundry list of violent criminal charges including strangulation and suffocation, battery, and domestic abuse.” The Mexican national has entered the U.S. illegally twice and was ordered deported in 2013. Dugan faces up to six years in prison if convicted of the charges.

In comments to The Washington Stand, Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, said, “Of course, this judge and other judges should be prosecuted for obstructing federal agents from enforcing the law. It is long past time for those obstructing law enforcement to face the consequences of their own actions.” In a Tuesday night interview, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said he was “glad” Dugan had been indicted, referring to her actions as an “egregious case” of flouting U.S. law. He suggested that other local, state, and even federal officials should face prosecution for obstructing President Donald Trump’s deportation program. “Let every other judge and member of Congress out there take a lesson from this: you are not above the law,” the senator said.

The Trump administration certainly appears poised to initiate prosecutions against officials who obstruct ICE operations. Last week, a group of protestors — including Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) and Reps. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), Robert Menendez, Jr. (D-N.J.), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) — tried to “break into” an ICE detention facility in New Jersey and reportedly shoved and threatened several federal law enforcement officers and facility guards. McLaughlin said in a statement at the time, “Members of Congress storming into a detention facility goes beyond a bizarre political stunt and puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and detainees at risk. Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities.”

Department of Justice (DOJ) official Alina Habba confirmed that Baraka “committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center” and was subsequently arrested. The former Trump defense lawyer added, “He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.”

The Trump DOJ is reportedly weighing criminal charges against McIver, Menendez, and Watson Coleman, eliciting fierce backlash from House Democrats. In a video posted to social media, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) claimed that her congressional colleagues had done no wrong. “If anyone’s breaking the law in this situation, it’s not members of Congress, it’s the Department of Homeland Security,” the congresswoman said, specifically naming border czar Tom Homan and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who are in charge of ICE operations and deportations. “You lay a finger on someone, on Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman … or any of the representatives that were there, you lay a finger on them, we are going to have a problem,” Ocasio-Cortez said. She added, “Because the people who are breaking the law are the people not abiding by it.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) made similar comments in a Tuesday press conference. When asked what would happen if the Trump administration followed through on filing criminal charges against McIver, Menendez, and Watson Coleman, Jeffries repeatedly replied, “They’ll find out.” Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram asked, “What would you do?” Jeffries replied again, “They’ll find out.” The Democratic official said that arresting his congressional colleagues would be a “red line” for the Trump administration. “They know better than to go down that road. And it’s been made loudly and abundantly clear to the Trump administration. We’re not going to be intimidated by their tactics,” Jeffries said. He continued, “No one’s intimidated by this dude. No one. And so there are clear lines that they just dare not cross.”

However, some Republicans are seeking penalties for the New Jersey Democrats, whether prosecutions come or not. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) introduced a resolution Tuesday to strip McIver, Menendez, and Watson Coleman of all committee assignments. In a social media post touting the resolution, he commented, “The radical left has lost their minds — they would rather raid an ICE facility to defend criminal illegal immigrants than represent their own constituents.” He added, “The three Democratic members involved in this stunt do not deserve to sit on committees alongside serious lawmakers.”

Ries told The Washington Stand that consequences are necessary for the Democrats’ conduct. “It has been the absence of consequences in so many aspects of American society that has allowed illegal behavior and corruption to escalate,” she said. Ries continued, “The perpetrators have relied on non-action to continue their transgressions, as demonstrated by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries threatening yesterday, in essence, ‘Don’t you dare arrest Democrat lawmakers for bum-rushing an ICE detention facility and shoving federal agents.’”

AUTHOR

S.A. McCarthy

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

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