President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said during an interview over the weekend following the arrest of two judges accused of aiding, abetting, and harboring illegal immigrants, that it shouldn’t surprise anyone.
The message and warning came following the arrest of Democratic judges in New Mexico and Wisconsin.
Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan, 65, was arrested on Friday morning and charged with two felonies after she allegedly aided an illegal immigrant in evading arrest.
“Specifically, the complaint says Dugan assisted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, avoid being arrested by federal immigration officials at the Milwaukee County Courthouse after he appeared in her courtroom for a pretrial conference on April 18. Flores-Ruiz is facing three misdemeanor battery counts,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
“Two federal agents eventually chased Flores-Ruiz down outside the courthouse and apprehended him at West State Street and North 10th Street downtown, according to the complaint,” the report added.
FBI Director Kash Patel slammed the judge in a statement on social media: “Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week.”
“We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien— to evade arrest,” he said.
In New Mexico, now-former Judge Joel Cano and his wife were also arrested for harboring an illegal alien suspected of belonging to the Venezuelan-based Tren de Arugua gang, which Trump has designated a terrorist organization along with another gang, MS-13.
The Canos are also accused of providing the illegal migrant suspect with firearms, as photographs found in their possession suggest.
In a statement on social media, Homan said that jurists aren’t above the law, no matter what they may think of it.
“Nobody should be surprised by the arrest of two judges. I have said many times within the past few months, that people can choose to support illegal immigration and not assist ICE in removing criminal illegal aliens from our communities, BUT DON’T CROSS THAT LINE,” he said on X.
“If you actively impede our enforcement efforts or if you knowingly harbor or conceal illegal aliens from ICE you will be prosecuted. These actions are felonies. More to come…” he added.
Regarding Dugan, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the judge screamed at the ICE agents from her courtroom.
“The judge screams at the immigration officers. She’s furious. Visibly shaken. Upset. Sends them off to talk to the chief judge,” Bondi told Fox News.
“She comes back in the courtroom — you’re not going to believe this — takes the defendant and the defense attorney back in her chambers. Takes them out a private exit and tells them to leave, while a state prosecutor and victims of domestic violence are sitting in the courtroom,” she added. “Can’t make this up.”
Several federal judges, most of them appointed by Democratic presidents, have issued rulings blocking the Trump administration from essentially enforcing existing immigration laws. Most of those cases are either on appeal or headed to the Supreme Court.