US Justice Department removes lawyer who told judge in immigration case ‘this job sucks’

By Nate Raymond and Andrew Goudsward

Feb 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department has removed a government lawyer from an assignment in Minnesota after she told a federal judge “this job sucks” and immigration authorities had failed to comply with court orders, according to a source familiar with the move.

Julie Le, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, had been detailed to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota as hundreds of lawsuits flooded the court there from people challenging their detention during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge.

U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell had ordered her and another government lawyer to appear before him in a St. Paul courtroom on Tuesday to explain why the administration had repeatedly not complied with court orders in several cases including ones directing the release of detainees.

Le told the judge she had “stupidly” volunteered to work at the U.S. Attorney’s Office starting January 5 to help it address hundreds of lawsuits that had arrived challenging the detention of people swept up in “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota.

“What do you want me to do?” she said. “The system sucks. This job sucks.”

A Justice Department spokesperson said the Trump administration was complying with court orders “and fully enforcing federal immigration law”, blaming high caseloads on “rogue judges.”

The source said the Justice Department had cut short Le’s assignment, but did not say whether she had returned to her previous job at the Department of Homeland Security. DHS and Le did not respond to requests for comment. 

During Tuesday’s hearing, Le said she had worked days and nights on the cases and trying to ensure court orders were complied with. 

But she said she had not received proper training from the Justice Department and had struggled to ensure U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement complied with all court orders, “which they have not done in the past or currently”.

“Sometime I wish you would just hold me in contempt, Your Honor, so that I can have a full 24 hours of sleep,” Le told Blackwell, according to a transcript.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota has come under strain as it faces a flood of immigration petitions and cases accusing demonstrators of assaulting federal agents.

Six prosecutors, including some senior officials, resigned earlier this month in protest of how President Donald Trump’s administration handled the investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an immigration agent.

Blackwell, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, said he understood “the concerns about all the energy that this is causing the DOJ to expend, but, with respect, some of it is of your own making by not complying with orders.”

Le said she shared his concerns about how the immigration cases were being handled.

“I am not white, as you can see,” she said. “And my family’s at risk as any other people that might get picked up too, so I share the same concern, and I took that concern to heart.”

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and Andrew Goudsward in WashingtonEditing by Peter Graff)