“This job sucks”: <\/strong>Those were the words of federal attorney Julie Le, who told U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell in a Tuesday hearing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) was overwhelmed with the number of legal challenges filed by people detained as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the Minneapolis area.<\/p>\n

Le said she wouldn’t mind being held in contempt of court so that she could get some sleep, reports local news outlet<\/a> Fox 9.<\/p>\n

Le has since been fired from her temporary job at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. It’s unclear if she’s still employed in her former, permanent role as an ICE attorney.<\/p>\n

While federal attorneys are clearly the real victims of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis, Blackwell had called the Tuesday hearing to focus on the secondary victims of the operation: migrants detained by ICE in violation of court orders requiring their release.<\/p>\n

“When court orders are not followed, it’s not just the court’s authority that’s at issue. It is the rights of individuals in custody and the integrity of the constitutional system itself,” Blackwell said<\/a> during that hearing, per The New York Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This is not the first time that a federal judge has excoriated ICE for failing to follow court orders.<\/p>\n

Last month, Patrick J. Schiltz, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Minnesota, published a list of nearly 100 court orders regarding immigrant detention that ICE had violated since the start of the New Year.<\/p>\n

This count, wrote Schlitz, “almost certainly substantially understated” ICE’s record of noncompliance. Reason<\/em> reporter C.J. Ciaramella compiled a list of all the orders, which you can read here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The White House bragged yesterday that over 4,000 “criminal illegal aliens”<\/a> had been detained during the administration’s Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota. Border Czar Tom Homan said<\/a> on Wednesday that another 158 people have been arrested for interfering with ICE operations.<\/p>\n

In addition to the people immigration authorities have illegally detained, immigration agents fatally shot two people, Renne Good and Alex Pretti, during the Metro Surge operation. Their deaths are a reminder that it’s not only Department of Justice attorneys who are suffering at the moment.<\/p>\n

Partial drawdown: <\/strong>Yesterday, Homan said that 700 federal agents would be pulled out of Minnesota, following<\/a> “unprecedented cooperation” from county officials in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

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.@RealTomHoman<\/a> in Minnesota: "We currently have an unprecedented number of counties communicating with us now and allowing ICE to take custody of illegal aliens BEFORE they hit the streets."pic.twitter.com\/Ec7pQaiMWk<\/a><\/p>\n

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n