Sanctuary judges who are putting their political activism above their duty to remain impartial and uphold the Constitution are now “on notice,” following the reprimand of Judge Shelley Joseph by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court for seemingly assisting an illegal alien evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) General Counsel James Percival said.
Back in April 2018, Oscar Manuel Peguero, who was in the country illegally, who went by the alias Jose Medina-Perez, was in a Massachusetts court after being arrested on charges of drug possession. At the time, Peguero had an outstanding warrant for being a fugitive from justice in Pennsylvania. ICE agents had a detainer for Peguero on the day he was taken into custody for drug possession.
The detainer, however, was not honored. Judge Joseph was presiding over the case in the courtroom, while ICE agents were waiting outside to take Peguero into custody. Prosecutors revealed that Joseph allowed Peguero to exit the courtroom through a back door to evade the agents waiting to arrest him. The following year, Joseph was slapped with charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, aiding and abetting obstruction of justice, and aiding and abetting obstruction of a federal proceeding.
According to a report from Breitbart News, the Biden administration dropped the charges against Judge Joseph in 2022. On September 10, the Massachusetts Supreme Court slapped Joseph with a formal reprimand, saying that she “created an appearance of impropriety in violation of her duties” by switching off the audio recording for the case.
Percival spoke with Breitbart and said that the reprimand puts sanctuary judges “on notice.” Percival then said, “This judicial misconduct reflects what DHS is facing across the country. Certain judges think it is their duty to undermine, rather than enforce, federal immigration law. Helping illegal aliens escape from immigration officers is a felony. Sanctuary politicians and sanctuary judges alike are on notice.”
Peguero first entered illegally into the U.S. when he flew into Boston, Massachusetts back in January 2003 and then claimed he was an American citizen. He was arrested and deported later that month. Then, in April 2007, Peguero once again crossed the border illegally through New Mexico and was taken into custody by Border Patrol agents. In June 2007, Peguero was deported for the second time. He then crossed illegally again.
“The respondent’s statements during that conversation, including her proposal to detain Medina-Perez overnight in State custody, and her conduct in instructing the clerk to turn off the courtroom audio recording system, created an appearance of impropriety in violation of her duties,” the ruling from the Massachusetts Supreme Court said.
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Joseph was indicted on the charges brought against her and was subsequently suspended from the bench and unable to work for three years. Fox News reported that Joseph’s lawyer, Elizabeth Mulvey, stated during a 2025 commission hearing that the case had been distorted by the mainstream media with many assuming her client allowed an illegal alien to escape out of the door. Joseph, who is still a judge, was recently assigned to administrative duties in the Boston Municipal Court.
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