Trump’s war on the legal system has escalated to just going ahead and arresting judges at this point.
The fascist dictatorship of the Trump presidency continues to get more and more vivid. Already, we’ve seen the detention of American citizens, ICE agents disappearing people, the Trump administration going after science journals, the call to jail reporters for the crime of doing their job, and the call to jail all perceived political opponents.
The legal community, of course, was not spared Trump’s wrath for the crime of failing to exclusively serve his own personal interests. This after Trump started attacking law firms for the crime of representing people the administration doesn’t like personally. Obviously, that is not a crime, but in Trumps fascist America, it’s an unspeakable crime that will receive the bigliest punishment that can possibly be dished out. Some law firms, such as Paul Weiss (Paul wuss?), shamelessly surrendered while others chose to fight this Orwellian push.
Of course, that fight extended to judges. Last month, Trump demanded a crackdown on judges for the crime of not ruling in his favour. Today, we are learning that those demands have started turning into action. This in a pair of disturbing reports, judges have now started getting arrested. First is Judge Joel Cano of New Mexico. From the Independent:
Immigration authorities raided a former New Mexico judge’s home, where they accused him of harboring an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member, and took him into custody.
Former Dona Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano, 67, and his wife, Nancy Cano, 68, were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcementx Thursday after a tipster claimed that undocumented migrants associated with the Venezuelan gang were staying at their home. The couple has been charged with tampering with evidence, jail records show.
The investigation began in January 2025 after ICE received an anonymous tip that “an illegal alien from Venezuela and a suspected member of a criminal gang, was residing with other illegal aliens in the United States” at the judge’s home in Las Cruces and was in possession of firearms, according to court filings.
Then, in a second report, we learned of the arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan of Milwaukee also being arrested. From CNBC:
Federal authorities have arrested a Wisconsin judge and a former New Mexico judge in two separate cases, accusing them of interfering with Trump administration immigration enforcement efforts.
Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested Friday morning and charged with obstruction. She is accused of helping an undocumented immigrant evade arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after he appeared in her courtroom April 18.
Dugan’s arrest drew swift condemnation from Trump’s critics.
“Americans are watching with outrage the stunning news that Trump’s FBI has arrested a sitting judge in Milwaukee for alleged obstruction of an immigration arrest,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in a statement.
“This is a drastic escalation and dangerous new front in Trump’s authoritarian campaign of trying to bully, intimidate, and impeach judges who won’t follow his dictates,” said Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. “We must do whatever we can to defend the independent judiciary in America.”
The pair of arrests sends a clear message from the Trump administration: carry out my will or you will end up behind bars. This in an effort to ensure that the legal community only serves the Trump administrations interests and no one else. After all, Trump has already threatened judges with impeachment in the past, but it seems that the administration is just skipping that process altogether and just sending people directly to jail instead. After all, due process is starting to be a thing of the past in the US.
All of this has a chilling effect on those who speak out against the unprecedented corruption and evil that is the Trump administration in the first place. After all, as we reported earlier, self-censorship is already a reality thanks to fears of Trump retaliation. Even XKCD is making comics about the Trump administrations censorial activities. It’s complete insanity is what it is.
