A judge in Wisconsin has been arrested by US federal authorities after allegedly trying to help an undocumented immigrant who appeared in her court avoid arrest.

The US Marshalls Service told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that officers took Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan into custody on Friday morning.

In a post on X, which was deleted minutes later, FBI Director Kash Patel alleged that Dugan allowed Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national facing three misdemeanour counts of battery stemming from a fight, to escape from her courtroom.

Flores-Ruiz was later arrested and appeared in the Milwaukee court for a scheduled hearing on 18 April.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that officers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were also in the courtroom that day, and that Dugan directed Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer to a side door leading out of the courtroom.