What You Should NOT Do During an ICE Visit at Work

Last week, I recommended that employees not "run" during an immigration enforcement action (ICE Visit) in the workplace. On Friday, the Trump Administration doubled-down on this principle when ICE came to visit a Judge's courtroom in Milwaukee to arrest an undocumented immigrant facing three counts of misdemeanor domestic battery. 

This is when a local judge intervened. Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of escorting the man and his lawyer out of her courtroom through the back jury door after learning that immigration authorities were seeking his arrest. The man was taken into custody outside the courthouse after agents chased him on foot. 

The Judge was taken into custody by the FBI on Friday morning on the courthouse grounds, according to U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson Brady McCarron. She appeared briefly in federal court later that day, before being released from custody. She faces charges of “concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest”, and obstructing or impeding a proceeding.

Dugan has been charged with two felonies for trying to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom (1. obstructing a U.S. agency, and 2. concealing an individual to prevent an arrest). The two charges carry a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $350,000 fine, but sentences in cases involving nonviolent offenses typically are much shorter.

The FBI affidavit describes Dugan as “visibly angry” over the arrival of immigration agents in the courthouse and says that she pronounced the situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers. It says she and another judge later approached members of the arrest team inside the courthouse, displaying what witnesses described as a “confrontational, angry demeanor”.

A sign that remained posted on Dugan’s courtroom door Friday advised that if any attorney or other court official “knows or believes that a person feels unsafe coming to the courthouse to courtroom 615”, they should notify the clerk and request an appearance via Zoom.

A federal judge, the same one Dugan would appear before a day later, had ordered Thursday that Flores-Ruiz remain jailed pending trial. Flores-Ruiz had been in the U.S. since reentering the country after he was deported in 2013, according to court documents.

The Justice Department had previously signaled that it was going to crack down on local officials who thwart federal immigration efforts, and ordered prosecutors to investigate any state and local officials who obstruct or impede federal functions. As potential avenues for prosecution, a memo cited a conspiracy offense as well as a law prohibiting the harboring of people in the country illegally.

Do you want to know how else you can avoid problems with the ICE? Call (949) 940-6725, or book a consultation online to speak with one of our experienced immigration attorneys.

DISCLAIMER: This post does not constitute legal advice, or make any guarantees as to a potential outcome. Consult with a qualified, licensed immigration attorney about the facts of your case before proceeding.