Traitor Watch - The 45 & 47 Thread

[Dekafox]

Found the details on it all, so this may help:

First per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Dugan :

On April 18, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued an arrest warrant for Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 30-year-old Mexican immigrant accused of misdemeanor battery, who was set to appear in court before Dugan.[6] According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carl Ashley notified Dugan of this arrest via email, to which Dugan responded saying "a warrant was not presented in the hallway on the sixth floor".[7] According to a court affidavit supporting the judge's arrest, Dugan was "visibly angry" when she learned that ICE agents were waiting outside her courtroom to arrest Flores-Ruiz. She then allegedly confronted the agents in the hallway, asked if they had a judicial warrant, and instructed them to speak to the court's chief judge after they informed her that they had an administrative warrant to detain Flores-Ruiz. While the agents were away, Dugan postponed Flores-Ruiz's hearing and directed him and his lawyer to leave through a private jury room exit instead of the public entryway.[8][9] Flores-Ruiz then left the building and engaged in a foot chase with ICE agents, who arrested him near the intersection of W. State Street and 10th Street.[10] Flores-Ruiz is being held at the Dodge Detention Facility in Juneau.[11]

They had an administrative warrant, not a judicial warrant. This does not allow them to make arrests in a courthouse in some states(unsure if Wisconsin is one of those), but ICE has been doing so regardless, in other cases it seems.

Some information on the differences:

The Difference Between Judicial and Administrative Warrants | Motion Law

Understand The Difference Between Judicial and Administrative Warrants. Contact Motion Law today if you have any quesitons about immigration!

www.motionlaw.com

ANd New York State is an example of one of the states that forbids it:

https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Community-FAQ-POCA-EN-1.pdf

 

[Xaaron]

Interesting. It looks like a Judicial Warrant is more appropriate in cases where forced entry of a private property is necessary to seize the subject. These must be approved by a judge/magistrate. An Administrative Warrant does not authorize such an entry, and ergo also is only issued by ICE officials, not a 3P judge/magistrate.

So, absent any other statute or ordinance, the issue turns on whether one has an expectation of privacy while appearing in open court. Which...no, you do not have that. Courthouses are open to the public, by definition, except for specific circumstances and specific types of hearings.

The closest local statements I can find are here: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2025/04/23/murphys-law-wisconsin-battles-over-ice/

And...it doesn't seem like Wisconsin has a "Protect Our Courts" Act like New York, because the other judges and officials speaking out on behalf of Judge Dugan are not citing it when they do.

The closest thing is a memo apparently disseminated among the judges telling them they have to comply with a Judicial Warrant, but not with an Administrative Warrant. I.e., as officers of the court (judge, bailiff, deputies, police officers) they must act to detain individuals or provide information when requested to do so by a Judicial Warrant. But they are not required to comply with assisting the execution of an Administrative Warrant. However, "not required to comply" is very different from actively leading the subject of the warrant in evading ICE agents.

TLDR; she was not obligated to assist, but that doesn't mean she could actively interfere.

 

[Rhinox]

Interesting. It looks like a Judicial Warrant is more appropriate in cases where forced entry of a private property is necessary to seize the subject. These must be approved by a judge/magistrate. An Administrative Warrant does not authorize such an entry, and ergo also is only issued by ICE officials, not a 3P judge/magistrate.

So, absent any other statute or ordinance, the issue turns on whether one has an expectation of privacy while appearing in open court. Which...no, you do not have that. Courthouses are open to the public, by definition, except for specific circumstances and specific types of hearings.

The closest local statements I can find are here: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2025/04/23/murphys-law-wisconsin-battles-over-ice/

And...it doesn't seem like Wisconsin has a "Protect Our Courts" Act like New York, because the other judges and officials speaking out on behalf of Judge Dugan are not citing it when they do.

The closest thing is a memo apparently disseminated among the judges telling them they have to comply with a Judicial Warrant, but not with an Administrative Warrant. I.e., as officers of the court (judge, bailiff, deputies, police officers) they must act to detain individuals or provide information when requested to do so by a Judicial Warrant. But they are not required to comply with assisting the execution of an Administrative Warrant. However, "not required to comply" is very different from actively leading the subject of the warrant in evading ICE agents.

TLDR; she was not obligated to assist, but that doesn't mean she could actively interfere.

Mmm, not quite.

If this had been a judicial warrant, the judge would be up the proverbial creek. An administrative warrant has very little authority or backing. You can absolutely tell the agents to go suck eggs. Since it does not have judicial weight, you can point agents in a wrong direction or simply block them. A judicial warrant gets you into the door. An administrative warrant is 'if we see you in public, we can take you'. They can't enter homes, businesses or any place where they are not invited. They are extremely limited. And, from reading things, these agents were told to kick rocks and no do this in the courthouse.
Yeah, she could absolutely point out the back door while telling them to hug off. Come back with a real warrant.

 

[Paladin]

https://dailyboulder.com/ice-can-now-enter-your-home-without-a-warrant-to-find-migrants-doj-memo-says/

Laws don't matter and no one will stop them.

 

[Xaaron]

Mmm, not quite.

If this had been a judicial warrant, the judge would be up the proverbial creek. An administrative warrant has very little authority or backing. You can absolutely tell the agents to go suck eggs. Since it does not have judicial weight, you can point agents in a wrong direction or simply block them. A judicial warrant gets you into the door. An administrative warrant is 'if we see you in public, we can take you'. They can't enter homes, businesses or any place where they are not invited. They are extremely limited. And, from reading things, these agents were told to kick rocks and no do this in the courthouse.
Yeah, she could absolutely point out the back door while telling them to hug off. Come back with a real warrant.

She's skating pretty close. Here's the statutes I found that she's charged under

Obstruction: "Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States, or the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress—Shall be..."

Concealment: "Whoever harbors or conceals any person for whose arrest a warrant or process has been issued under the provisions of any law of the United States, so as to prevent his discovery and arrest, after notice or knowledge of the fact that a warrant or process has been issued for the apprehension of such person, shall be..."

For concealment, I'd say it comes down to whether an Administrative Warrant qualifies as a "warrant" or "arrest" under the law. For obstruction...if these were otherwise open court proceedings, and she used her authority as a judge to refuse them entry, and then led the subject through another exit only accessible to judicial personnel...well, it's not getting dismissed on its face, absent some federal precedent I'm unfamiliar with.

 

[Pale Rider]

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/25/us-citizen-deportation-donald-trump-00311631

 

[Rhinox]

She's skating pretty close. Here's the statutes I found that she's charged under

Obstruction: "Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States, or the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress—Shall be..."

Concealment: "Whoever harbors or conceals any person for whose arrest a warrant or process has been issued under the provisions of any law of the United States, so as to prevent his discovery and arrest, after notice or knowledge of the fact that a warrant or process has been issued for the apprehension of such person, shall be..."

For concealment, I'd say it comes down to whether an Administrative Warrant qualifies as a "warrant" or "arrest" under the law. For obstruction...if these were otherwise open court proceedings, and she used her authority as a judge to refuse them entry, and then led the subject through another exit only accessible to judicial personnel...well, it's not getting dismissed on its face, absent some federal precedent I'm unfamiliar with.

She invited them to go through a different door than the one ICE was guarding. The guy went into the same hallway and outran them.
That's not on her, that's on them. Spend some time on the treadmill, boys.
As far as what you've presented, the statute. The argument I'd start with as a lawyer is the word "corruptly". I would then make the argument that showing the individual to a different door does not influence, obstruct, or impedes anything. He went into the same hallway where ICE was. Just down the hall. Obstruction won't stick.
In terms of concealment, a better argument could be made except that the chief judge had previously stated that administrative warrants are not to be pursued in the courthouse. As they are not judicial warrants and have no real weight of the justice system behind them, they can make and personally enforce that ruling.

This is a nothing case. And the big splashy arrest by Kash and his FBI team was done specifically to create an atmosphere of fear and tell even judges that they had better not get in Trump's way. Pure intimidation, nothing more.

But, like with tariffs, I bet if we see massive pushback instead of capitulation, Trump will blink first.

 

[Paladin]

Trump Has Now Deported Multiple U.S. Citizen Children With Cancer

Two families who had lived in the United States for years, including a child with cancer and a pregnant mother, were deported by ICE on Friday.

www.rollingstone.com

considering Donald's history with children they should be LUCKY to be further away from him.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Ameen and his family fled Iraq for Turkey in 2012. Part of Iraq’s Sunni minority, they came from a village in Anbar province, a region that had served as an epicenter for the Sunni insurgency against the U.S. occupation, the rise of al-Qaeda and ISIS, as well as the sectarian discrimination exhibited by the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad.

Ameen and his family arrived in the United States in 2014 after a rigorous vetting process; [...]

The Trump administration called him a terrorist and held him up as an example of how dangerous people were using the refugee resettlement program to infiltrate the United States.

The administration argued that not only was Ameen a member of ISIS masquerading as a refugee, he was, in fact, a high-ranking leader in the extremist group who had led a hit squad to kill an Iraqi policeman, among other acts. The administration wanted Ameen, whose case was chronicled in The New Yorker last year, extradited to face trial in Iraq.

But then the government’s case collapsed.

[Judge] Brennan agreed in his decision with Ameen’s defense lawyers, who argued that he and his family fled Iraq in 2012 and on the date of the murder were 600 miles away, in Mersin, Turkey. They had just been told of their imminent resettlement in the United States.

The judge called that “obliterative alibi evidence” and blocked Ameen’s extradition, ordering that Ameen be “immediately released from custody.”

Instead, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents picked him up and restarted deportation proceedings.

link

For what it's worth the Biden administration also tried to deport this guy for some reason. "Nothing fundamentally will change" indeed.

But there is news! The new Trump administration finally agreed that this guy seems to have a valid fear of persecution, and they have dropped the attempt to deport him back to Iraq.

So they quietly put him on a plane to Rwanda.

the administration has opted to quietly send Iraqi national Omar Abdulsattar Ameen from the US to Rwanda, wherein Rwanda acts as a “third country.” But it remains unclear what legal processes allowed for this to happen.

The cable, sent today—April 22, 2025—confirms Ameen’s “relocation” has already happened.

link

It sounds like Rwanda has struck a similar deal to El Salvador's. For a fee, they'll accept anyone we send.

 

[Rhinox]

The breaking point is coming soon. When cooperation means nothing, then people have nothing to lose by acting out. Using unmarked, masked agents with no identifiers is asking for someone to decide to pull up.

I really am not trying to advocate violence. But more and more I am not seeing anything other than serious violence coming. People are going to do and the second an ICE agent dies we are going full martial law and then the real killing will begin.

 

[Xaaron]

Welp, time to watch V for Vendetta again...

 

[abates]

Radley Balko (@radleybalko.bsky.social)

Vance's Easter visit to Rome clogged its streets with a 40-vehicle entourage. He also demanded the Coliseum be closed so he and his family could tour it alone. Tourists who properly booked slots in advance got screwed. He's apparently the first to make that demand. Then he didn't bother to show...

bsky.app

JD Vance, what a git.

 

[NovaSaber]

Meeting him really might've been what caused the Pope's stroke.

 

[Dekafox]

One last rush of ships to get in before the de minimis changes, it looks like:

Wish I could see the historical data here. Site is https://www.vesselfinder.com/ for reference

 

[Axaday]

Meeting him really might've been what caused the Pope's stroke.

My grandmother died of a stroke that night following a family Christmas gathering and I am halfway convinced that on some level her body said "That was great and there won't be another day that great for quite a while". Grandpa had just died a few months before.

I can certainly see a Pope meeting JD Vance and thinking "My goodness, THIS is where things are going? I've got better places to be"

 

[KidTDragon]

'We're citizens!': Oklahoma City family traumatized after ICE raids home, but they weren't suspects

 

[Axaday]

I hope this wakes Oklahoma up a little.

 

[Axaday]

I actually don't know the answer to this question, though asking it correctly implies that I have a suspicion. It seems like an awful lot of videos I see lately of Trump getting caught by reporters he says "I don't know, this is the first I'm hearing about this" Is that normal? Does the President usually have someone along to tell them about anything reporters are going to ask about at the same time the reporters are finding out about it?

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

Either he's lying to dodge accountability, or his minions are going off script and he actually doesn't know about it. Both are terrible in different ways, but I think the second may be worse.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

It's the latter, and it's deliberate. The current strategy is to get things done before a judge can hear about it. So Trump just sets the direction, and even he doesn't need to hear what the plan is or how and when it's happening until it's already too late for a court to undo.