TJP

Julie Myers should not be confirmed as head of ICE

Byron A. Ellis

November 17, 2007

Decency and fairness require a no vote on Julie Myers confirmation as the nation’s top immigration officer. Myers, Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and two other agency managers are insensitive to minorities. During the agency Halloween party they gave the most original costume award to a white agency employee dressed as an escaped prisoner with dreadlocks and darkened skin.

Senator Reid and all Senators of good conscience should send Myers on unequivocal message that such behavior from immigration officers is out of bound and should not be rewarded with higher office.

Myers, the niece of Air Force General Richard B. Myers, also lacks immigration experience. Her appointment has raised questions of nepotism; her husband was the former chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Myers and the two other agency managers exhibited poor judgment and provided the public with a glimpse of their biases toward ethnic minorities. Such biases from the agency hierarchy are likely to reflect on how they enforce immigration laws.

Myers, as head of ICE, heads an agency charged with enforcing immigration laws inside the United States. So, when the agency targets only illegal ethnic minorities, such as Mexicans, it may be due to the agency’s hierarchy preconceived biases.

Secretary Chertoff directed the offending employee to take a leave. However, Myers and the other agency managers were not directed to take a leave, although they condoned the behavior and even gave the employee an award for the costume.

Chertoff stated that Myers was reaching out to Congress and others to make sure that they understood her unwavering commitment to equality and fairness. But, equality and fairness would require Chertoff to direct Myers and the two agency managers that awarded the white agency employee dressed as an escaped prisoner with dreadlocks and darkened skin to take a leave.

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