After a judge asked her why the Trump administration wasn’t complying with court orders to release Minnesota migrants, Justice Department lawyer Julie Le responded that the “system sucks” and “this job sucks”. In fact, she suggested that he hold her in contempt of court so she could get 24 hours of sleep, according to people at the hearing.
The hearing in front of Judge Jerry Blackwell in St. Paul, Minn. involved five separate cases brought by immigrants challenging the lawfulness of their detentions.
This incident is just one sign that government lawyers are struggling to handle the logistical fallout of President Trump’s immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities.
Le said she had only been in the office a matter of weeks and was having trouble getting into her Justice Department email to coordinate the response to court orders, according to someone in the courtroom. The court’s public docket showed Le listed as a lawyer in 88 cases, all filed since Jan. 8.
More than 500 habeas petitions have been filed there in the eight weeks since the administration’s immigration efforts began.
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, more than 40 assistant U.S. attorneys have quit or retired, bringing total staffing in the criminal division to fewer than 20 attorneys, according to an analysis of the office’s staffing totals.
