 WJI policy analyst Alexandria Staubach speaks at a rally outside the Historic Federal Courthouse in Milwaukee on Dec. 15, 2025. Photograph by Jessica Schmidt. Wisconsin Justice Initiative policy analyst Alexandria Staubach spoke about the importance of protecting court proceedings at a Monday rally addressing the multiple consequences of Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in Wisconsin courthouses. “When a place that is designed to protect you, protect your right to a fair and impartial trial, your right to protection, your right to dignity and equal treatment before the law, becomes a trap to ensnare people seeking justice, we are all less safe,” Staubach said. She added that victims, witnesses, and the accused don’t disappear but “just stay home.” The rally took place just prior to opening statements in Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan’s federal trial on charges of obstructing a federal agency and concealing an individual to prevent arrest. Dugan is accused of assisting an immigrant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, evade ICE arrest by providing him access to a restricted hallway and directing federal agents away from her courtroom. Dozens of organizers and community members gathered outside the federal courthouse in Milwaukee, braving low digit temperatures to register their discontent with Dugan’s prosecution. Staubach noted in her comments the power of federal prosecutors, including recently appointed Interim U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel. “We’re going to say the quiet part out loud for Brad Schimel,” said Staubach, a former assistant district attorney in Colorado. “Prosecutions are discretionary.” Maxwell Love, the state political and campaign director for the Working Families Party, told WJI the coalition holding the rally was built “so that we could bring the case into the ‘court of public opinion.’” The group seeks “to make sure that the Milwaukee community could engage in a conversation about our values of fairness, due process, and democracy since we couldn’t be present in the courtroom,” Love said. The group highlighted the detrimental impact ICE presence has in the courthouse and its chilling effect on access to justice. “If due process can be violated for one group, it can and will be violated for all,” Wisconsin Working Families Party director Corinne Rosen said. “Today we stand together in this freezing cold to reject fear.” Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, discussed the human impact and feelings of insecurity and intimidation created in immigrant community when ICE stands between them and access to justice. Louis Davis, executive director of SEIU Wisconsin led the crowd in chanting, “Your struggle is my struggle.” Nick Ramos, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign got the crowd going in yelling, “This is what democracy looks like.” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the chants and supportive honking could be heard inside the courthouse. Opening statements for Dugan’s trial began immediately after the rally. Prosecutors leaned heavily on the idea that courthouse arrests are “safe” and “routine,” and that Dugan’s “judicial robe didn’t put her above the law.” Dugan defense attorney Steven Biskupic said that conjecture about a chaotic morning was leading the federal prosecution and that Dugan did not obstruct law enforcement pursuit of Flores-Ruiz. Biskupic said Dugan directed federal law enforcement away from her courtroom in accord with a draft policy previously circulated by Chief Judge Carl Ashley to the Milwaukee County judges, telling them to direct federal agents to their supervisor. Biskupic said Dugan had not yet heard whether or for whom the federal agents had a warrant and so she did not intend to obstruct any action on their warrant. Biskupic also showed a screenshot of a group chat between federal agents, which suggested they had decided, on their own, not to arrest Flores-Ruiz in the courtroom hallway. A video shown during Biskupic’s opening remarks showed federal agents walking behind Flores-Ruiz at a leisurely pace as he exited the sixth floor of the courthouse where Dugan’s courtroom is located. The federal government plans to call up to 28 witnesses in the case and the trial is expected to last around five days.  WJI's Alexandria Staubach speaks at a rally outside the Historic Federal Courthouse in Milwaukee on Dec. 15, 2025. Photograph by Jessica Schmidt.
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By Alexandria Staubach At Milwaukee's celebration of International Humans Rights day, a panel of professionals and community activists were in lockstep that the United States is in a constitutional crisis. The city's eighth annual celebration of International Human Rights Day on Saturday was technically a celebration. But the event took on a cautionary tone as members of the public and city officials gathered in discussion around democracy, its erosion, and its relationship to human rights. Panelists in a segment titled “Unpacking Democracy and Human Rights,” emphasized that human rights are the bedrock of any functioning democracy. They explored the nexus between the constitutional crisis they believe is occurring and the erosion of human rights. The panel included James Santelle, former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin; Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera; Yante Turner, director of youth programming at GSAFE, which champions the rights of LGBTQ+ youth, and member of Sun-Seeker MKE, a Black trans-led community organizing group; and Svetlana Her, president of the Milwaukee Youth Council. Emilio De Torre, executive director of the Milwaukee Turners, led the discussion. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Milwaukee Equal Rights Commission Chair Tony Snell Rodriguez gave opening remarks. “International Human Rights Day gives us the opportunity to reflect on what is happening in our country,” Johnson said, adding that “modern political trends are weakening human rights.” “We’ve got to stand against that movement,” he said. “Our democracy is not self-effectuating.” “Protecting human rights is not a passive task … it requires action,” he said.  Panelists at Milwaukee's International Human Rights Day celebration. L to R: James Santelle, James Santell, Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Svetlana Her, Yante Turner, and moderator Emilio De Torre. De Torre’s first question—whether the American democracy is in crisis—elicited comments from the panel that we are living in unprecedented times.
Santelle, who served 30 years in various roles within the federal government, called the current justice system “unrecognizable.” “It’s not just atypical, not just abhorrent, it’s inconsistent with the purpose of the U.S. Department of Justice,” he said. Santelle asked the audience to “embrace” feelings of disaffection to empower action. “Your own sense of disaffection from your government—you’re not alone and that sense is right and accurate,” he said. As U.S. attorney under President Barack Obama, Santelle led the Milwaukee office of federal prosecutors. He said the current justice department is working against the people by participating in litigation to dismantle the departments of education and housing and by engaging in prosecutions “premised upon the notion that the president of the United States does not like people.” Neumann-Ortiz said the immigrant community see signs of crisis in the increased freedom of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to wrongfully arrest people and in open discrimination by law enforcement. “We’ve got to think about our rights now and defend them,” she said. “Use your rights or lose them.” Turner noted the experience of Black and particularly queer Black individuals. Turner said calling this a constitutional crisis “feels unaccountable,” because “it’s always been a crisis for some people in this country.” Nevertheless, this is “a crucial point of change for better or worse,” Turner said—the only question being whether in the years to come we will be “building off or recovering from” the changes enacted at the federal level. Milwaukee’s Equal Rights Commission and the city’s chapter of the United Nations Associations host the annual event, open to the public. This year the event occurred at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. |
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