Government attorney who told judge in ICE case, 'This job sucks,' removed from detail

Source: NBC News

Feb. 4, 2026, 12:23 AM EST / Updated Feb. 4, 2026, 7:55 AM EST


A government attorney who was representing the Justice Department in court is no longer detailed to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota after telling a judge her job “sucks” and asking to be held in contempt so she “could get 24 hours of sleep.”

Julie Le, who is listed in public records as a Department of Homeland Security attorney, had been detailed to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, but an official familiar with the matter told NBC News early Wednesday that Le’s detail was now over in the wake of the comments.

Le, who according to an NBC News review of court records picked up 88 cases in less than a month, expressed frustration at her job during an immigration hearing Tuesday in Minneapolis, where the Trump administration is carrying out a sweeping immigration enforcement operation. “The system sucks. This job sucks. I wish you could hold me in contempt so that I could get 24 hours of sleep,” Le said, according to reporting by Lou Raguse of NBC affiliate KARE.

Raguse, who was in the courtroom, reported that Le said it was like “pulling teeth” to get the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Justice Department to follow court orders. DHS, which oversees ICE, and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Le could not be reached for comment.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/attorney-government-tells-judge-ice-case-job-sucks-rcna257349