WASHINGTON (AP) — A government lawyer has been fired from her Justice Department position after telling a judge during a court hearing that her job was “terrible” as the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement in Minnesota, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Julie Le had been handling details for the Justice Department, but the U.S. attorney in Minnesota ended her assignment after she made comments in court on Tuesday, the person said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Prior to her temporary assignment, she had been working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On Tuesday, during a hearing in several immigration cases in St. Paul, Minnesota, Le told U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell that she hoped he would hold her in contempt of court “so I can have a full 24 hours of sleep.”
“What do you want me to do? This system sucks. This job sucks. I’m doing everything I can so I can get you what you need,” Le said, according to a transcript.
Le’s extraordinary comments reflect the intense pressure on the federal court system since President Donald Trump returned to the White House a year ago and promised mass deportations. ICE officials say the surge in Minnesota has become the largest immigration operation since early January.
Several prosecutors have left the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota amid frustrations with a surge in immigration enforcement and the Justice Department’s response to the shooting deaths of two civilians by federal agents. Le was assigned at least 88 cases in less than a month, according to online court records.
Blackwell told Le that the number of cases is no excuse for ignoring court orders. He expressed concern that people arrested in immigration enforcement operations often remain incarcerated for several days after a judge orders their release.
“I hear concerns that this will cause the Department of Justice to expend a lot of energy, but, with all due respect, some of that will be caused by your failure to comply with orders,” the judge told Le.
Le said she worked for the Department of Homeland Security as an ICE attorney in immigration court before “foolishly” volunteering to work on the detail in Minnesota. Le told the judge she had not received proper training for the task. She said she wanted to resign but could not find a replacement.
“Fixing a system, a broken system, I don’t have a magic button to do that. I don’t have the power or the voice to do that,” she said.
Le and spokespersons for the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Attorney Kira Kelly, who represented two petitioners at the hearing, said the large number of immigration applications was necessary because “so many people are being detained without any legal basis.”
“There’s nothing here to suggest that any new system or bold emails or any instructions to ICE will solve any of the problems,” she added.