Le
Remember
Julie
Le?
If
the
name
rings
a
bell,
it’s
probably
because
she
delivered
one
of
the
most
honest
courtroom
reviews
of
the
unreasonable
work
government
attorneys
are
being
asked
to
do
in
support
of
the
Trumpian
immigration
policy.
Back
in
February,
the
then–Justice
Department
attorney
told
a
federal
judge
exactly
how
she
felt
about
her
workload,
“The
system
sucks,
this
job
sucks.”
And,
in
what
may
be
the
most
damning
line
ever
uttered
in
federal
court,
she
added,
“I
wish
you
would
just
hold
me
in
contempt
…
so
I
can
get
24
hours
of
sleep.”
The
internet
loved
it.
The
Justice
Department…
less
so.
She
was
promptly
shown
the
door.
Which
didn’t
help
with
the
rapidly
depleting
reserve
of
government
attorneys.
And
now?
Well,
Le
has
decided
that
if
you’re
going
to
go
viral,
you
might
as
well
go
all
the
way
to
Congress.
Le
has
officially
launched
a
campaign
for
Congress
in
Minnesota’s
5th
District
as
a
Democrat,
challenging
incumbent
Rep.
Ilhan
Omar.
According
to
her
campaign
messaging,
Le
says
she
“has
witnessed
firsthand
the
complexities
of
our
immigration
and
legal
systems”
and
understands
“how
broken
they
are
—
and
the
reforms
needed
to
improve
them.”
(Which,
admittedly,
is
a
slightly
more
polished
version
of
“the
system
sucks.”)
Le’s
background
is
compelling
as
a
Vietnamese
refugee
who
came
to
the
United
States
in
1993
and
later
worked
as
an
immigration
prosecutor
connected
to
ICE
enforcement
operations,
she
has
a
unique
perspective
that
she’s
taking
to
voters.
The
theory
appears
to
be
that
if
the
system
is
broken,
maybe
the
person
who
said
it
out
loud
should
try
fixing
it.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].