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FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

apnews.com

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Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#411

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

whoknowsidont wrote: post #12

Democratic states really need to start disallowing federal agents to operate within their borders and band together. Activate their respective national guards and make it happen. Yes, that means defying federal law. Yes that means exactly the consequences you want to draw from those actions. There is no other option at this point. The law is dead in the U.S.

Every public official in every state has sworn an oath to uphold the constitution. Willfully ignoring that oath whenever it suits them is not a faithful commission of their duties. While trampling on civil rights is a problem so is harboring known, convicted felons.

If Wisteguens Charles had been deported in 2022, some of his future crimes wouldn't have happened. Instead we have people falling over themselves to have sympathy for the worst elements of society and ignoring the oath they made to uphold the law. That doesn't justify twisting the law into a tool for cruelty but is no better to arbitrarily ignore it either.

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#412

Post by bix6 »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #328
bix6 wrote: post #190

Milwaukee journal is providing great coverage: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/breaking/2025/04/25/milw...

The AP article someone else linked is much better: it includes both: - a PDF of the criminal complaint (court filing), and - details of what specifically the complaint alleges (that the judge encouraged the person to escape out of a 'jury door' to evade arrest). The phrase 'jury door' doesn't appear in the JS article.

Thanks, affidavit is worth the read. https://apnews.com/article/immigration-judge-arrested-799718...

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#413

Post by sanderjd »

Aeolun wrote: post #388
sanderjd wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thesis is that immigrants have no constitutional rights because they aren't citizens, or the stronger form, that they are invaders and thus enemy combatants. The Supreme Court is going to have to clarify the existence or non-existence of constitutional rights for people living here unlawfully. And then the populace is going to have to make sure that the president doesn't conclude that he can ignore that ruling if…

On that basis tourists have no constitutional rights either. I find it hard to believe anyone would want to visit the US now, but surely that has an even further chilling effect.

To be clear, I agree. It's a dangerous thesis, but also just idiotic. They're doing a speed run of turning the US into North Korea, where nobody will want to travel here or trade with us.

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#414

Post by sarlalian »

nonethewiser wrote: post #385

This would be pretty sad if she did help him evade ICE. He was in court for battery charges and in the country illegally. ICE arresting him does not interfere with any due process. Which he 100% needs to get (but arresting him is still part of that). What is left here thats worth protecting? Not someone we want in the country and the agents had a warrant for his arrest (court comes after that). I feel like this is a…

There is nothing in any of the articles indicating he was here illegally. He's referred to in all the articles I've read as an immigrant. Not as illegal or undocumented.

It's also reasonable to point out that removing someones legal immigration status, due to being "charged" with a crime, is a seriously slippery slope.

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#415

Post by scoofy »

EgregiousCube wrote: post #359
fnordpiglet wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact the FBI participated in this arrest is chilling. ICE being a proto secret police seems to be perceived already. The FBI now? There’s question whether the ICE agents even had legal grounds to demand arrest regardless, whether they had a warrant, etc - and the facts established are pretty clearly not prosecutable. So this is pure intimidation, going after the judicial in what will likely be a flagrantly abusiv…

The accused is accused of violating federal law, so it's normal that a federal agency would make the arrest. FBI seems to make more sense than DEA or ATF, no?

>The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

You can't just arrest someone for nothing. You need probable cause. The question is whether a judge going about their day, doing nothing illegal, is probable cause. It's very likely not.

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#416

Post by 542354234235 »

whats_a_quasar wrote: post #255
Jtsummers wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I.e. the ICE agents showed up in the middle of a court proceeding, and the judge said they'd need to get permission from the chief judge before they could interrupt proceedings. The judge then didn't stop the defendant from leaving once the proceeding was done. Since there were multiple agents (the reports and Patel's post all say "agents" plural) they could have left one at the courtroom, or outside, rather than a…

To your question - A state judge cannot be required to hold someone on behalf of federal agents. That's federalism 101 and settled law. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/sanctuary--supremacy--h...

But judges can be arrested for doing nothing illegal to intimidate and bully them into not acting based on settled law.

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#417

Post by gosub100 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #214
kemayo wrote: post #16

> He accused Dugan of “intentionally misdirecting” federal agents who arrived at the courthouse to detain an immigrant who was set to appear before her in an unrelated proceeding. It sounds like the arrest isn't because of any official act of the judge, but rather over them either not telling the ICE agents where the person was or giving them the wrong information about their location. There are some pretty broad law…

Under any occasion, it was inappropriate to arrest a judge like this. We’re honestly at the point where I’d be comfortable with armed militias defending state and local institutions from federal police. If only to force someone to think twice about something like this. (To be clear, I’m not happy we’re here. But we are.)

Why don't you organize one?

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#418

Post by Miner49er »

lolinder wrote: post #383
Miner49er wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How in the world is this an arrestable offense. Escorting someone out of a room?

If it can be proven that she deliberately escorted the person through the non-public exit to the courtroom with the intent of helping them evade arrest by officers with a warrant who were waiting outside at the other entrance, how would that not be an arrestable offence? We're extremely light on facts right now, so I'm not taking the above quoted story at face value, but if one were to take it at face value it seems…

I guess I would hope it takes more then that to rise to the level of obstruction.

Additionally, you have to prove intent, and unless the judge was careless, I doubt they will ever be able to do that. I'd bet the prosecution knows this, I don't think they expect the charges to stick. It seems this arrest was done to send a message.

More evidence of that is that typically in this kind of case they would invite her to show up somewhere to accept process, not be arrested like a common criminal.

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#419

Post by [deleted] »

kemayo wrote: post #16

> He accused Dugan of “intentionally misdirecting” federal agents who arrived at the courthouse to detain an immigrant who was set to appear before her in an unrelated proceeding. It sounds like the arrest isn't because of any official act of the judge, but rather over them either not telling the ICE agents where the person was or giving them the wrong information about their location. There are some pretty broad law…

[deleted]

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#420

Post by adolph »

kemayo wrote: post #16

> He accused Dugan of “intentionally misdirecting” federal agents who arrived at the courthouse to detain an immigrant who was set to appear before her in an unrelated proceeding. It sounds like the arrest isn't because of any official act of the judge, but rather over them either not telling the ICE agents where the person was or giving them the wrong information about their location. There are some pretty broad law…

> I.e. the ICE agents showed up in the middle of a court proceeding, and the judge said they'd need to get permission from the chief judge before they could interrupt proceedings. The judge then didn't stop the defendant from leaving once the proceeding was done.

Do you have any evidence of this claim? The FBI affidavit says they were waiting in the public hallway outside, let the bailiff know what they were doing and did not enter the courtroom. The judge did not find out until a public defender took pictures of the arrest team and brought it to the attention of the judge. Maybe the FBI lied, but that seems unlikely given the facts would seem eventually verifiable by security video and uninvolved witness statements.

  Members of the arrest team reported the following events after Judge DUGAN 
  learned of their presence and left the bench. Judge DUGAN and Judge A, who 
  were both wearing judicial robes, approached members of the arrest team in 
  the public hallway.
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wied.11...
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