US judge arrested in escalation of immigration crackdown

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The FBI has arrested a US county judge in Wisconsin for allegedly helping an immigrant evade detention by federal agents, said US authorities.

FBI agents arrested Judge Hannah Dugan on Friday morning at a Milwaukee courthouse, said a US Marshals spokesperson.

FBI director Kash Patel alleged in a now-deleted post on X that the judge had “intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse”, according to media reports.

“Thankfully our agents chased down the perp on foot and he’s been in custody since, but the Judge’s obstruction created increased danger to the public,” he added.

The FBI and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dugan has been a judge in Milwaukee County since 2016, primarily handling cases in the court’s misdemeanour section. Prior to her time on the bench, she worked with legal aid organisations, including Catholic Charities of Southeast Wisconsin. She is also a past president of the Milwaukee Bar Association.

The exceptionally rare move brings tensions between Donald Trump’s administration and the judiciary to new heights. It is the latest effort to push the boundaries of the executive branch’s authority in ways that raise existential questions about the country’s separation of powers.

Trump and his allies have railed against judges for weeks after the judiciary froze White House initiatives ranging from immigration to government staff firings that they deemed illegal. With Congress taking a passive role, the courts have become the main venue to measure the legality of orders the president has unleashed since his return to power in January.

Immigration has been a priority for Trump, who has promised mass deportations. His administration is locked in fraught legal wrangling over the removal of hundreds of alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to an El Salvadoran prison — a case that has reached the US Supreme Court with the government admitting that at least in one case, an immigrant was removed erroneously.

Federal judges have fiercely criticised the government for failing to provide detailed information around the flights to El Salvador, with one finding probable cause for contempt.