Julie Le volunteered to help with the flood of cases filed by immigrants arguing they had been improperly detained during Project Metro Surge in Minneapolis. On Tuesday, Le was the lawyer sent into court to explain the Department of Homeland Security's failure to comply with court orders requiring the immediate release of detainees to Judge Jerry Blackwell.

Judge Blackwell, who was one of the prosecutors in the case against former police officer Derek Chauvin, which resulted in his conviction for George Floyd's murder, had some questions for Le. Judge Blackwell's 4-page document on the federal district court's website, titled "Practice Pointers and Preferences," leaves one with the sense that this is a judge who does things by the book and demands that lawyers who appear in front of him follow the ethical rules that bind lawyers. Follow the rules, he admonishes litigants who appear before him at multiple points, don't try to be cute and bend the rules.

He was all business with Le in court today, when he asked why court orders were being disobeyed.

Paul Blume with Fox9 in St. Paul reported on what happened next: "SHOCKING FEDERAL COURT MOMENT: DOJ attorney Julie Le, "The system sucks, this job sucks" to Judge Jerry Blackwell who pressed her on why so many court orders are being ignored by ICE/Trump admin. She asked to be held in contempt just so she could get 24 hours of sleep."

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