Another crisis rocks the Trump administration. Lawyers throw up their hands

Part of the problem, Le said, is that officials simply don't respond when she or other Justice Department lawyers try to get them to comply with court orders. — I don't have a magic button that will allow me to fix this broken system. “I don't have the power or the voice to do that,” she added.

After a candid exchange in the courtroom, Le was removed from her interim position and returned to the Department of Homeland Security, where she handles immigration matters under the executive branch, noted a Justice Department official who asked not to be identified.

It is clear, however, that the cases Le has dealt with are not isolated. Court documents and transcripts reveal widespread misunderstandings, inept filing, and sudden, widespread violations of judges' orders. The administration's handling of immigration operations has raised alarm among federal judges, who are increasingly frustrated with what they see as blatant disregard — caused not by local prosecutors in Minnesota but by leadership at the Justice Department and Homeland Security in Washington. Threats of insult are now almost commonplace.

Courts under pressure

Several top attorneys in federal prosecutors' offices in Minnesota have filed resignation in connection with mass deportations carried out by the Trump administration. This has led to a shortage of staff to handle an unprecedented number of emergency cases. Other lawyers threatened to leave.

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin rejected the suggestion that the administration was unprepared for the deluge of immigration cases in the courts. She blamed judges for fueling the increase.

“The Trump administration is more than prepared to handle the litigation necessary to implement President Trump's deportation agenda for Americans,” McLaughlin said. — It should come as no surprise that illegal immigrants are filing more and more habeas corpus petitions [zakaz pozbawiania wolności kogokolwiek bez zgody sądu] — especially after many activist judges tried to prevent President Trump from implementing Americans' mass deportation mandate.

A Justice Department spokesman similarly attacked “rogue judges” for fueling the increase in detention cases and said that without their rulings there would be no “concerns about the Department of Homeland Security's execution of orders.” But federal prosecutors in Minnesota acknowledged the growing burden on the courts.

ICE agents, Minneapolis, January 24, 2026.Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune/Contributor/Getty Images

— The civil division of the federal prosecutor's office in this district is completely overwhelmed by the number of habeas corpus applications filed recently in Minnesota at a time when the office is struggling with staffing shortages, prosecutors told federal judge Susan Nelson after they missed a court deadline this week.

“I'm going to leave”

Le is a rookie prosecutor who was only assigned to Minneapolis last month. She is already named as a government attorney in more than 80 habeas corpus petitions filed by immigrants. During Tuesday's hearing, she told federal judge Jerry Blackwell that she was so overwhelmed that she had already tried to quit her job.

“I also resigned from my job, but they couldn't find a replacement,” she said, according to the minutes.

Le said getting ICE to comply with the court orders — or even answer her questions — was like “pulling teeth.” She said she emphasized to officials the importance of complying with the orders, often sending them emails in 24-size font and threatening to “put their names” in court documents.

— So I gave them a specific deadline to complete the task. If they don't do it, I will leave without a doubt,” Le said.

Blackwell said during the hearing that he had repeatedly heard that failure to comply with court orders often occurred after Justice Department lawyers contacted their ICE counterparts and did not receive a response. “The answer can't be 'we called ICE' and then shrug it off,” said the Joe Biden-appointed judge.

Le, 47, who was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States in 1993, also indicated that she was concerned by allegations that at least some ICE detentions were motivated racial profiling. — As you can see, I'm not white. “My family is at the same risk as others who could also be detained, so I share these concerns and have taken them to heart,” she said.

A legal black hole

Similar issues have been popping up for weeks – in character missed deadlines, missing or defective attachments to key court documents, conflicting or incomplete information, and even missing detainees.

In one recent case, ICE arrested a man with no criminal record who was legally present in Minnesota on a rare “T” visa, intended for victims of serious forms of human trafficking or people who assisted law enforcement in a human trafficking investigation. A day after the judge asked about the case, the Justice Department said it should be dismissed because the man had been fired. Four days later, however, the department sent mysterious documentation that misidentified the man as a woman and suggested he had been transferred to an El Paso detention center.

ICE Actions, Minneapolis, January 27, 2026Madison Thorn / ANADOLU / Getty Images

The Department of Justice missed a deadline for an explanation, leading the judge to conclude that “ICE transferred the applicant from Minnesota to Texas without notice, and records show that even [Departament Sprawiedliwości] “may not have known about the transfer.”

Minnesota federal judge Patrick Schiltz threatened to find acting ICE Director Todd Lyons guilty of contempt of court. He withdrew after the Department of Homeland Security released a man who had been unlawfully detained for more than a week after issuing a release order. Schiltz was cautious in praising Minnesota's federal prosecutor's office, blaming the national leadership for failing to provide it with the necessary resources to comply with the court's ruling.

Department of Homeland Security officials in Washington ridiculed Schiltz for dropping his threat to be charged with contempt of court and called the George W. Bush-appointed judge an “activist.” The department has similarly attacked other federal judges who have issued unfavorable rulings — including a Trump-appointed judge.

It is worth noting, however, that on Wednesday the White House announced that it would withdraw 700 of its approximately 3,000 federal agents from Minneapolis-Saint Paul, potentially reducing pressure on courts, prosecutors and ICE by slowing the number of arrests and detentions.

In search of those responsible

— My purpose in this matter is not to threaten you or anyone else. “We just want the law to be upheld because on the other side of this case is an individual who, in some cases, should not have been arrested, is being held in jail or in handcuffs for several days, if not more than a week, after being ordered released,” Blackwell told Le during Tuesday's hearing.

He stressed that the entire executive branch must obey judges' orders and that officials in all relevant agencies must be held accountable for non-compliance. “If there's a problem in a restaurant, I'm not going to go into the kitchen to find out who's baking the bread,” he added.

Ana Voss, chief of the civil division in the Minnesota federal prosecutor's office, appeared in court with Le and sought to explain her office's efforts to address the influx of immigration cases. She agreed that the entire executive branch was responsible for the failures. But under pressure, she spoke specifically about problems coordinating with the local ICE field office, blaming a “lack of training and communication” for the recurring problems.

Turning to Le and Voss, Blackwell said he was confident that Voss had never in her career had to answer for the Justice Department's failure to comply with court orders.

— When have you seen something like this? he asked.

“Never in my career, Your Honor,” she replied.