The Trump administration’s massive immigration crackdown in Minnesota has exposed a severe rift between the Justice Department and ICE, detonated the already crumbling trust between the administration and the courts and led to the dozens of detentions the courts have said are illegal.
A dramatic breakdown by a Justice Department attorney in a Minneapolis courtroom Tuesday laid bare the crisis roiling the Trump administration as it continues to mass arrest immigrants without the corresponding resources to detain them humanely, process their legal cases and comply with federal court orders.
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“The system sucks. This job sucks. And I am trying every breath that I have so that I can get you what you need,” prosecutor Julie Le told a judge as he demanded to know why his orders were being defied. “Sometime I wish you would just hold me in contempt, your honor, so that I can have a full 24 hours of sleep,” she added, according to a transcript obtained by POLITICO.
Part of the problem, Le said, is that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials simply don’t respond when she or other Justice Department lawyers try to get them to obey the courts.
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Shortly after the candid courtroom exchange on Tuesday, Le was removed from her temporary post and returned to the Department of Homeland Security, where she works on immigration cases within the executive branch, said a Justice Department official who was granted anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
But it’s clear that the cases Le handled are not outliers. Court records and transcripts reveal widespread miscommunication, bungling of court filings and suddenly rampant violations of judges’ orders. The administration’s handling of its immigration operation provoked a five-alarm emergency among federal judges in the state, who have grown increasingly frustrated at what they see as overt defiance — caused not by the local prosecutors in Minnesota but by DOJ and DHS leadership in Washington. Contempt threats are now almost routine.
Just saw this on the news, with a focus more on how she compared getting ICE to do anything is like "pulling teeth" and how the court orders basically do nothing since ICE won't comply. She...
Just saw this on the news, with a focus more on how she compared getting ICE to do anything is like "pulling teeth" and how the court orders basically do nothing since ICE won't comply.
She basically just said what everyone else has been thinking, can't blame her for snapping. I'm just weirdly happy that this thought is now out there on official, public record.
Agreed, this being in court records for posterity means something as much as it matters that it is covered by the news too. I'm sure she knew she was getting fired. I wonder if she planned it out...
Agreed, this being in court records for posterity means something as much as it matters that it is covered by the news too.
I'm sure she knew she was getting fired. I wonder if she planned it out just broke
How much more evidence do we need that the entire system is just broken? Any police or military that defies the courts would just be court maritaled but in this case who's actually going to carry...
How much more evidence do we need that the entire system is just broken? Any police or military that defies the courts would just be court maritaled but in this case who's actually going to carry out these orders?
From the article:
[...]
[...]
Just saw this on the news, with a focus more on how she compared getting ICE to do anything is like "pulling teeth" and how the court orders basically do nothing since ICE won't comply.
She basically just said what everyone else has been thinking, can't blame her for snapping. I'm just weirdly happy that this thought is now out there on official, public record.
Agreed, this being in court records for posterity means something as much as it matters that it is covered by the news too.
I'm sure she knew she was getting fired. I wonder if she planned it out just broke
How much more evidence do we need that the entire system is just broken? Any police or military that defies the courts would just be court maritaled but in this case who's actually going to carry out these orders?
Hmm sounds like ICE needs a lot more funding. We probably should cut taxes for rich people some more to pay for it with trickle down.
And Our Democrats (tm) are trying so hard to help out the Republicans with that! We're so lucky.
See also
Haven't read it, but apparently this is the court transcript:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FnY2z7eb5efGlHrb2AYBtfqMVDJSUfIu/view