A Wisconsin judge has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing her of helping an undocumented immigrant in her courtroom avoid arrest by immigration enforcement agents.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan was charged last month with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. She could face up to six years in prison if convicted on both counts.
Dugan’s lawyer, Steven Biskupic, entered a not guilty plea on her behalf during a brief arraignment in a federal court on Thursday, with a trial date set for July 22.
Immigration authorities allege she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a man in the US without documentation, and his lawyer out of her courtroom and through a backdoor as immigration agents sought to arrest him.
The case is the latest to underscore tensions between local officials and a Trump administration pursuing an aggressive crackdown on immigration that civil liberties groups say has tested the limits of executive power.
Dugan left the courtroom on Thursday without comment. A crowd of protesters outside of the court chanted “due process rights” and “keep your hands off our judges” and held signs reading “only fascists arrest judges — drop the charges” and “Department of Justice overreach”.
Immigration raids on sensitive places such as courts have long been a matter of dispute, with immigration rights advocates saying that such raids discourage people in the US without documentation from accessing legal assistance or cooperating in legal matters.
An FBI affidavit says that when an aide informed Dugan that immigration agents appeared to be in the hallway outside her courtroom, she called the situation “absurd” and later confronted them about their warrant.
The Trump administration has consistently stated that it will seek to penalise local officials who do not help facilitate its enforcement push, even saying that legal action could be taken against such officials.
State and local officials in Democrat-led states have also said in a recent lawsuit that the administration threatened to withhold federal funds if they are not more cooperative with enforcement efforts, which they maintain is unconstitutional since Congress is tasked with the allocation of federal funds.
