A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney who made headlines last month for telling a judge “this job sucks” is seeking a gig with its own set of problems: She’s running for Congress.
Julie Le, 47, is formally launching her bid to unseat Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., on Saturday, according to her campaign website. Le will face both Omar and Latonya Reeves in the Democratic primary in August, and the general election will take place in November.
Le made her headline-grabbing comments to a federal district judge in February, while she had stepped in to work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in her home state as it was experiencing a surge of immigration-related cases, driven by the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation tactics. In response to the judge’s question about why ICE was repeatedly ignoring court orders, Le replied: “The system sucks, this job sucks.”
“I am here to make sure the agency understands how important it is to comply with court orders,” she added, according to KMSP-TV in Minneapolis.
Le also reportedly told the judge she hoped he would hold her in contempt so she could get 24 hours’ sleep.
The comments got her removed from her temporary assignment.
She told the Washington Post — which first reported the news of her campaign — that she realized as she was leaving the courtroom that, as an attorney, she lacked the power to change the system she railed against.
“Legislators are the only ones that can change the law, or update the laws, or do something, so that we can have this under control,” Le told the newspaper.
Le’s campaign did not respond to an inquiry from MS NOW.
Le is one of hundreds of former federal workers turned candidates who is now running in state and local elections following mass firings brought about by the Trump administration.
Her campaign website outlines three pillars: immigration reform, education funding and health care access. The site says Le will “fight for humane, sensible immigration policies” after seeing “the system’s failures up close,” calling it “outdated and inefficient.”
A spokesperson for ICE did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s question on Friday about the circumstances of her departure from government service.
Despite her focus on immigration reform, Le told the Post she used to be proud to work for ICE. “You apply the law to everyone. Everyone has to follow it,” she said.
Omar has represented the solidly blue 5th Congressional District, which includes and surrounds downtown Minneapolis, since 2019. She does not appear to have publicly commented on the news of her new challenger, and a spokesperson for her re-election campaign did not respond to MS NOW’s request for comment.
Le told the Post she was challenging Omar “not because she’s not doing the job” but “for what I could bring to the table.” She also told The New York Times she would be more moderate than Omar, who has called for abolishing ICE.
Like Omar, who was born in Somalia, Le is an immigrant: She was born in communist Vietnam, partially raised in the Philippines and arrived in the U.S. with her family as refugees in 1993.
Fallon Gallagher contributed reporting.
Julianne McShane is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW who also covers the politics of abortion and reproductive rights. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at jmcshane.19 or follow her on X or Bluesky.