michellemalkin.com/archives/003576.htm
jpg Another disastrous crony appointment in the making This is Julie Myers, President Bush's nominee to head the the US Immigr ation and Customs Enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Se curity.
A bad joke: (via WaPo) The Bush administration is seeking to appoint a lawyer with little immig ration or customs experience to head the troubled law enforcement agenc y that handles those issues, prompting sharp criticism from some employ ee groups, immigration advocates and homeland security experts. The push to appoint Julie Myers to head the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, comes in the midst of intense debate over the qualifications of department p olitical appointees involved in the sluggish response to Hurricane Katr ina... After working as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, NY, for two year s, Myers held a variety of jobs over the past four years at the White H ouse and at the departments of Commerce, Justice and Treasury, though n one involved managing a large bureaucracy. Myers worked briefly as chie f of staff to Michael Chertoff when he led the Justice Department's cri minal division before he became Homeland Security secretary. Myers also was an associate under independent counsel Kenneth W Starr f or about 16 months and has most recently served as a special assistant to President Bush handling personnel issues. Richard B Myers, the departing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She married Chertoff's current chief of staf f, John F Wood, on Saturday. In written answers to questions from Congress, Myers highlighted her yea r-long job as assistant secretary for export enforcement at Commerce, w here she said she supervised 170 employees and a $25 million budget. IC E has more than 20,000 employees and a budget of approximately $4 billi on. Its personnel investigate immigrant, drug and weapon smuggling, and illegal exports, among other responsibilities. Myers was on her honeymoon and was not available to comment yesterday. E rin Healy, a White House spokeswoman, cited Myers's work with customs a gents on money-laundering and drug-smuggling cases. "She's well-known a nd respected throughout the law enforcement community," Healy said. "Sh e has a proven track record as an effective manager."
And I can tell you that contrary to the Miss Mary Sunshine White H ouse spokeswoman's comments, rank-and-file DHS employees and immigration enforcement officials are absolutely livid about Myers' nomination. This e-mail I received last week says it all: As you probably know, this is the largest investigative arm of DHS and t he second largest Federal investigative agency after the FBI. ICEs cri tical homeland security mission is directed at all Customs and Immigrat ion violations occurring in the interior of the US These are the offi cers that have to respond to calls of illegal aliens, drug loads with a border nexus and the detention and removal of all illegal aliens place in removal proceedings. ICE accounts for close to 80% of all arrests m ade within the FBIs joint terrorism task force. ICE criminally prosecu tes more individuals than any other Federal agency. My point is, ICE is the lead agency to proactively prevent terrorism in the US Ms Myers, although learned, has barely the legal requirement to be nominated as the AS for ICE. The law requires 5 years of manageri al experience and 5 years of law enforcement experience. Ms Myers is 3 5 and has worked as the following(estimates): private attorney 2 years; Chief of Staff fo r Michael Chertoff at Main Justice 2 years; The most direct law enforcement experience is super vising 250 Commerce Special Agents which pursues similar violations on export control as ICE. Roughly 11 years of experience to lead the 12,00 0 law enforcement officer ICE agency. I can guarantee you that she would never have been nominated to run th e FBI, DEA or Secret Service. Its almost like the old INS days where t hey just throw out the political favors. Maybe shes getting the job be cause shes tight with Chertoff. Maybe its because shes the niece of General Myers (Chair Joint Chiefs of Staff). Who knows, but I guarantee you this, the next time some illegal aliens commit a terrorist act on US soil, people are going to be scrutinizing her resume. Sorry to ramble but unfortunately the majority of DHS is being run by ha cks, snot nose youngsters who couldnt find an illegal alien in Tijuana , and other connected people with no knowledge, experience, or busine ss being in the Homeland Security sector. But when it comes to immigration enforcement and border security, Bush keeps installing clueless cronies.
An ICE employee noted in an e-mail to me this week: Look at the deputy Secretary Michael Jackson - came from private sector transportation jobs and Dept of Transportation. BTS chief Randy Beardsw orth, in charge of ICE and Border Patrol, comes from the Coast Guard an d was a budget planner. Where are the law enforcement backgrounds to he ad law enforcement agencies? The WaPo this morning quotes a union official I agree with: "It appears she's got a tremendous amount of experience in money launder ing, in banking and the financial areas," said Charles Showalter, presi dent of the National Homeland Security Council, a union that represents 7,800 ICE agents, officers and support staff. "My question is: Who the hell is going to enforce the immigration laws?"
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, who held a public hearing on Myers' nomination last week. Myers cheekily told the committee: "I realize that I'm not 80 years old," Myers testified. "I have a few gr ay hairs, more coming, but I will seek to work with those who are knowl edgeable in this area, who know more than I do."
But as long as the borders are broken and al Qaeda continues to exploit lax immigration enforcement , I don't want her in charge of ICE. Why hire someone who needs to "seek out" those "who know more than I do" in order to her job? Why wait unti l the next mass terrorist attack to put those more knowledgeable people in leadership positions now and leave the paper-pushers in their cubicle s? Why the president wants Myers to head ICE at this critical moment in time --and why his supposedly brilliant strategists don't see the stupidity o f Myers' nomination--defies comprehension. My pick: Pete Nunez, former United States Attorney, Sou thern District of California (1982-1988), former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement (1990-1993) overseeing all law enforcement components of the Treasury Department including Customs and BATF, lectur er in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of San Diego and Chairman of the Board of Directors at t he Center for Immigration Studies.
Raw Story has published an in teresting immigration memo from Rep. Lamar Smith to Karl Rove that was i nadvertently sent to a Democratic congressman. Some conservatives have q uestioned the authenticity of the document. Smi th's office and confirmed that it is real and unaltered. Smith's st affer explained the gaffe by saying that "something went on with the fax machine."
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