Kash Patel says FBI arrested Milwaukee judge for misleading ICE agents, then deletes his post

FBI director Kash Patel said on Friday that agents had arrested a county judge in Milwaukee, Hannah Dugan , on charges of obstructing immigration enforcement. The bureau arrested Judge Hannah Dugan on suspicion that she “intentionally misdirected federal agents away from” an immigrant being pursued by federal authorities, Patel wrote on social media. Minutes later, Patel deleted his post, and Dugan's status remained unclear.

The Trump administration has vowed to investigate and prosecute local officials who do not assist federal immigration enforcement efforts.

Dugan, the Milwaukee native, now in her 9th year as a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, was under federal investigation for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest by US, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported earlier.

Dugan, a former Milwaukee Bar Association president, was elected to Branch 31 of the Circuit Court in 2016, defeating incumbent Paul Rifelj, an appointee of then-Gov. Scott Walker. She primarily oversees cases in its misdemeanor division. Dugan was unopposed in the 2022 election.

Dugan, 65, graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1987. Since then, she spent a large swath of her career working for the poor and vulnerable, first with legal aid organizations and then as executive director of Catholic Charities.