Former federal attorney in Minnesota who complained 'this job sucks' is running for Congress against Rep. Ilhan Omar

Elliot Hughes, Star Tribune on Mar 13, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — The former federal attorney who proclaimed “this job sucks” in a courtroom amid Operation Metro Surge is now running for Congress as a Democrat.

Julie Le made national headlines for her Feb. 3 outburst before U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell, who was demanding answers as to why the federal government missed deadlines to release five immigrants from custody.

Le, who was working for the U.S. attorney’s office at the time, explained that she and her co-workers had been working around the clock to address a wave of immigration cases filed in Minnesota since the start of Operation Metro Surge.

“What do you want me to do? The system sucks. This job sucks,” Le said, according to a court transcript.

She said she had “stupidly” volunteered to join the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota, and she had started Jan. 5, to help handle petitions challenging immigrant detentions.

“Sometime I wish you would just hold me in contempt, your honor, so that I can have full 24 hours of sleep,” she said.

In the aftermath of her remarks, Le was removed from her post in Minnesota.

Le now turns her focus to a campaign for Congress in the same district as Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has been in office since 2019.

Omar defeated fellow Democrat Don Samuels by more than 13 percentage points in the 2024 primary election for the 5th District. She beat Republican Dalia Al-Aqidi by almost 50 percentage points in the following general election.

Le is a former assistant chief counsel for the Department of Homeland Security and a former special assistant U.S. attorney for the U.S. attorney’s office.

According to her campaign website, Le will focus on immigration reform, education funding and health care access. Her website called the U.S. immigration system “outdated and inefficient, creating humanitarian crisis.”

She has “seen families torn apart by bureaucratic inefficiency and a system that doesn’t work for those who need it most.”

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