APRIL 25, 2025 – The latest flashpoint in the regime’s continuing march toward authoritarianism was the FBI’s arrest of the Wisconsin judge for allegedly having assisted an undocumented alien in evading apprehension by ICE. The case has a legal element, of course—What exactly did the judge say or do that violated the law; what law?—but its primary character is political; that is, it’s a headline grabber, orchestrated by the regime to send a message. This political feature, however, relates back to the law, specifically, due process and the openly authoritarian threats to it.
Trump Administration officials and FoxNews hosts and commentators pounced on the case with predictable contempt for the judge. “No one is above the law!” sang the chorus in straight up unison. What’s not illegal, the lyrics go, about someone aiding and abetting a “bad guy’s” escape? Notice that I didn’t write, “suspect.” This is an important distinction, because as the regime has already demonstrated repeatedly, ICE doesn’t treat targeted individuals as “suspects.” Once a person is surrounded, then handcuffed by ICE agents, the person apprehended is as good as convicted as an illegal alien and sentenced to deportation—possibly to the Roach Motel in El Salvador.
What I’ve just described is itself a violation of due process, to which everyone on U.S. soil—documented or undocumented aliens included—is entitled. The regime has invoked the Alien Enemies Act, however, as a way around this legal reality. The Supreme Court has recently responded with “Not so fast,” but so far, the regime hasn’t backed off its deportation campaign.
Moreover, in the case at hand, ICE agents out to nab the targeted individual, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, were equipped with an administrative warrant, not a judicial warrant. Administrative warrants are issued by federal agencies, not courts, and don’t have the same force as warrants issued by judges—judicial warrants. In short, Judge Dugan was not obligated to honor the ICE administrative warrant.
Thus, just who was acting above the law here: Judge Hannah Dugan or ICE and the FBI acting at the direction of the Trump Administration?
In any case, the rule of law has been dealt another blow. The judge’s arrest was made in a parking lot for maximum theatrical effect. FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X a photograph of the judge in handcuffs. U.S. Attorney General Pam Blondi . . . er, Bondi . . . said in connection with Judge Dugan’s arrest, “Some of these judges think they’re above the law. They are not. We will come after you and prosecute you. We will find you.” These threatening tactics and rhetoric, coupled with calls for impeachment, are designed to intimidate. They are the devices of an authoritarian regime.
What’s most troubling about all this is not simply the threat to judicial independence. It’s the trend toward utter disregard for the judiciary. Moreover, it’s the disregard for the universal right to due process and the rule of law. People such as Kash Patel, Pam Bondi, and Stephen Miller won’t act according to law but only according to loyalty; proof of the latter is treating Trump’s word as the law.
We are already well into dangerous territory. As Thomas Friedman said in a recent interview, “The emergency is now.”
Subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
© 2025 by Eric Nilsson
