AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Today, an escalation in the Trump administration's battle with the judiciary and local authorities over the president's deportation agenda.

FBI agents arrested Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan on charges of obstructing immigration agents.

When officers attempted to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican citizen, last week, the FBI alleges in a criminal complaint that Judge Dugan - - quote -- "escorted Flores-Ruiz and his counsel out of the courtroom through the jury door, which leads to a non-public area of the courthouse."

Earlier today, Attorney General Pam Bondi addressed both Judge Dugan's arrest and another recent arrest of a former New Mexico judge charged with hiding and alleged Tren de Aragua gang member.

PAM BONDI, U.S. Attorney General: I think some of these judges think they are beyond and above the law, and they are not.

And we're sending a very strong message today.

If you are harboring a fugitive, we don't care who you are.

AMNA NAWAZ: Our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, joins me now here for the latest.

Laura, an extraordinary move, as we say, a sort of escalation in the ongoing showdown between the Trump administration and judges who they say are undermining their agenda.

Break this down for us.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So, much of the public first found out about this when FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that the arrest had occurred, accusing the judge of -- quote -- "intentionally misdirecting" federal agents away from Ruiz in her courtroom, although that's not what the official criminal complaint alleges.

So the complaint details that members of an ICE task force came to the courthouse last Friday to arrest Flores-Ruiz.

That included ICE, FBI, DA agents.

And Flores-Ruiz was at the court for a misdemeanor, battery charges tied to domestic abuse, so not for an immigration hearing.

And Judge Dugan told agents to talk to the chief judge.

She allowed the undocumented immigrant to exit through a jury door.

Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz later in the public hallway and at one point a DA agent even rode in the elevator with Flores-Ruiz and with his attorney.

And that's all lay down in the complaint.

Ultimately, they apprehended him down the street near the courthouse after he was running away from agents.

So, today, though, the judge was arrested on two charges of obstructing a proceeding of federal agents and concealing an individual to prevent discovery and arrest.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, you talked to a former FBI special agent about all of this?

What did they have to say on this?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: I spoke to former FBI Special Agent Asha Rangappa, and she believed that both charges could be an uphill battle for the Justice Department in court because it's hard to prove corrupt intent.

And she questioned whether the Trump administration was not very focused on the merits of the case and more focused on the signal that it could send.

ASHA RANGAPPA, Former FBI Special Agent: I think this could be highly embarrassing for the Justice Department if they take this very this kind of case which is a spectacle and then don't prevail in court.

And I have to wonder whether this is not so much about the merits of this case, but perhaps to send a message.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Again, Judge Dugan was arrested on the grounds of a Milwaukee courthouse where she presides, according to the U.S.

Marshals Office.

And so that kind of spectacle, which is what Asha said, may be sending a chilling effect to others across the legal community.

AMNA NAWAZ: Now, Laura, you have been reporting on this administration.

Officials have been threatening for months to prosecute officials, judges and lawyers and lawmakers, people they accuse of wrongfully aiding undocumented immigrants.

Now that this has happened, what's been the reaction and are more arrests like it expected?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: It appears as though more could be expected, Amna, because administration officials are saying this is not the end.

President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, posted today on X -- quote -- "Nobody should be surprised by the arrest of two judges."

He also said that if you are actively impeding our enforcement efforts, you will be prosecuted.

But just as Asha Rangappa, the former special agent, said, I also spoke to a former prosecutor, Julius Kim, who has worked alongside as a lawyer, the judge, Dugan, who was arrested.

And he said that this type of arrest of a judge is not typical, it's not normal, that he is worried that the process is being politicized and that ultimately, again, that the administration is not necessarily focused on seeing this case all the way through to the end, but is more focused on the larger message that it could send to judges who may act in a similar manner to Judge Dugan.

As for the reaction from Democratic lawmakers and the public in Milwaukee, it's been very swift.

And today there were protests outside Judge Dugan's courthouse with chance of people saying, "Free the judge now."

AMNA NAWAZ: I want to ask you about something on a different front I know you have been covering as well.

We saw a major reversal from the Trump administration on their immigration agenda when it comes to restoring the status of thousands of foreign students after the administration had terminated their records in a federal system.

What happened here?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So earlier this month, the Trump administration terminated the records of thousands of foreign students from a federal database that tracks students across the U.S.

This database was created after 9/11 to track foreign students.

And in response to those terminations, there were 100 or so lawsuits.

Dozens of judges blocked the termination, saying that this wasn't lawful.

And so today in a federal court, the Trump administration did a complete reversal, essentially saying that it will restore the status, the record of these foreign students in this federal database that tracks them.

Now, the DHS said that they have not necessarily reversed course on a single visa revocation, but this is a key, important status for students to have and it affected some 4,000 foreign students.

AMNA NAWAZ: What are the experts telling you the impact could be here?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So even though their status is being restored, in a government -- in a court hearing today, the administration said that ICE is still developing a policy that could provide a framework for these record terminations of students in the future.

And I spoke to Charles Kuck.

He is an immigration attorney that says that the impact of these record terminations is potentially irrevocable.

CHARLES KUCK, Immigration Attorney: They have paid a very serious price.

Restoring their SEVIS does not fix the problem that many of these students have.

Many lost jobs because of this, lost job offers.

Some lost the ability to transfer schools during this period of time and many lost their visas.

What we don't know yet is how ICE is going to fix any of these problems.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Immigration attorney Charles Kuck said that these terminations are sending a loud and clear message, despite the fact that they are being restored now.

They are sending a message to foreign students that once you are done with school that you should get out of the United States.

AMNA NAWAZ: Laura Barron-Lopez, thank you, as always.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.