A Wisconsin judge who actively helped an illegal alien evade U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has resigned from the bench, citing what she called “unprecedented federal legal proceedings” against her — proceedings that stem directly from her own misconduct.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan submitted her resignation to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, a move first revealed by WISN 12 News political director Matt Smith, who shared the letter publicly. In it, Dugan claimed her continued presence on the bench would entangle the court in political controversy — a controversy she herself created.
“The citizens of Wisconsin deserve to start the year with a judge on the bench in Milwaukee County Branch 31,” Dugan wrote, framing her resignation as an act of civic responsibility rather than the consequence of a criminal conviction.
Dugan lamented that she is the subject of “unprecedented federal legal proceedings,” arguing they threaten “the independence of our judiciary.” That phrasing, notably, avoids acknowledging the underlying issue: a jury found that she obstructed justice by deliberately helping an illegal alien escape ICE custody.
“I am pursuing this fight for myself and for our independent judiciary,” she added, before conceding that Wisconsin residents should not have their courts “rest in a partisan fight in the state legislature.”
With what she described as a “heavy heart,” Dugan formally stepped down.
Her resignation follows a December jury conviction after evidence showed she personally escorted Eduardo Flores Ruiz — an illegal migrant — out of her courtroom, allowing him to evade federal immigration officers waiting to lawfully detain him. The jury found Dugan guilty of obstructing an official proceeding, a serious federal offense.
Despite the conviction carrying a potential sentence of up to five years in prison, the New York Times reported that Dugan is expected to serve little to no jail time due to being a first-time offender — a familiar outcome in a justice system that increasingly seems more lenient toward officials who undermine immigration enforcement than toward those who enforce the law.
Dugan concluded her letter by invoking faith, saying she trusts that “in the long run justice will be served” — both for the judiciary and for herself.
For many Americans, however, the issue is far more straightforward: a judge used her authority to interfere with federal law enforcement, aided an illegal migrant in fleeing ICE, and only resigned after being convicted by a jury of her peers. The rule of law, inconvenient as it may be for some on the left, still applies — even to those wearing judicial robes.
