By Mariah Timms and Lydia Wheeler

A lawyer who told a Minnesota judge during a hearing on immigration enforcement that the "system sucks" and "this job sucks" was removed from her posting with the Justice Department on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Julie Le, a Department of Homeland Security attorney, was detailed last month to work for the U.S. attorney's office in Minnesota.

At a Tuesday hearing in St. Paul, Minn., Le expressed exasperation and exhaustion when a federal judge pressed her on why the Trump administration wasn't complying with court orders to release detained migrants in Minnesota. She said, "I wish you would just hold me in contempt, Your Honor, so that I can have a full 24 hours of sleep," according to a transcript of Tuesday's hearing

The hearing involved five separate cases brought by immigrants challenging the lawfulness of their detentions. Judge Jerry Blackwell pressed Le to explain why his orders to release individuals had been met with blown deadlines or a lack of response.

"I am trying every breath that I have so that I can get you what you need," Le said.

Le's extraordinary commentary is one of the most notable signs yet that government lawyers are struggling to handle the downstream effects of President Trump's immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities.

Le, who started her detail on Jan. 5, told the judge that she had asked to be transferred back to her prior post, but no one was willing to take her place in court.

She said she "stupidly" volunteered to assist with the deluge of cases in Minnesota federal court. She said she hadn't been properly trained or sworn in and was still having trouble accessing her Justice Department email to coordinate the response to court orders. A search of the court's public docket showed Le listed as a lawyer in 88 cases, all filed since Jan. 8.

Le didn't respond to requests for comment. Her remarks were earlier reported by local Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul.

The federal district court in Minnesota has been overwhelmed by habeas petitions -- the mechanism for individuals to challenge the legality of their detentions -- with more than 500 filed there in the eight weeks since the administration's immigration efforts began.

At the same time, the local federal prosecutors office has seen a wave of departures that have strained its ability to handle such cases. In mid-January, The Wall Street Journal reported that at least six prosecutors in Minnesota had resigned over the Trump administration's handling of the federal investigation into the killing of Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on Jan. 7. That was followed by the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.

Federal judges in Minnesota have been excoriating the Trump administration for its failure to comply with court orders in the cases, often ordering ICE to swiftly release people in their custody. Judges indicated their patience was at its limit over the administration's seeming inability to manage the deluge of detentions and resulting litigation, raising tensions between the White House and the judiciary.

Last week, Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz said he was aware of 96 court orders that the government hadn't complied with, issued in 74 different cases, with the true count likely higher. ICE, he said, "has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence."

Write to Mariah Timms at mariah.timms@wsj.com and Lydia Wheeler at lydia.wheeler@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 04, 2026 17:37 ET (22:37 GMT)

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