Why Did ICE Head Julie Myers Resign the Day After the Election?

[babylonsister]

Why Did ICE Head Julie Myers Resign the Day After the Election?

Posted by Suman Raghunathan, Feet in 2 Worlds at 4:47 PM on November 11, 2008.

Myers leaves amid speculation that she was the source of the leak about the status of Obama’s undocumented Kenyan aunt.


Less than twelve hours after the results of last weeks' election were announced, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced Wednesday that Julie Myers, assistant secretary of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is leaving the agency by November 15.

Myers, who has led the agency since 2006, was the controversial face of the Bush administration's enforcement-focused immigration policy.

As Feet In 2 Worlds has reported, recent large-scale ICE raids have been deeply unpopular, particularly among Latino voters and voters from other immigrant groups, and served to further tarnish the Republican brand. Post election analysis shows that Latinos gave Obama the winning edge in six states, helping to propel him into the White House and adding to Democratic majorities in Congress.

During Myers' tenure, the agency doubled the number of undocumented immigrants swept up into deportation proceedings to reach a new record of 274,000 sent back to their home countries in 2006. The agency also saw its budget grow exponentially -- and used it mostly for enforcement tactics including large-scale immigration raids that largely targeted undocumented workers rather than their employers.

Myers leaves amid speculation that she was the source of the leak to The Associated Press about the status of Obama's undocumented Kenyan aunt only a few days before the general election. According to Rolling Stone's Tim Wilkinson, Myers' precipitous departure the day after the election and less than a week after the information on Obama's aunt was leaked is likely no coincidence.

more...

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/106623/why_did_ice_h...

[SalmonChantedEvening]

1. She wanted to spend more time with her family attorney.

[Vickers]

6. DUzy rec.

[Wiley50]

2. Getting Too Hot for Her? "I'm Melting! I'm Melting.! Now See What You Have Done? I'm Melting! " n/

[annabanana]

3. guilty guilty guilty

She facilitated the politicization of ICE into the most rogue division of the Department of Homeland Security.

Her work is visible in the ICE teams that "partner" with local law enforcement under the guise of "routing out gang members" when their real agenda is massive roundups of hispanics generally so they can rummage through their papers and detain & deport as many as they can.. . .

There are some tales to tell once they leave town.

[tanyev]

4. Naw, she was going to resign anyway, but she wanted to stick around

for the 2008 ICE Halloween costume contest. She just loves how creative her employees get with their costumes.

[KharmaTrain]

5. I'm Thinking One Special Prosecutor May Not Be Enough

There is so much corruption and so many rats, the job of accountability will be a monumental one. I definitely think it's beyond the reach of Waxman, Conyers and others in the legislative...this will require naming an Independent Prosecutor who can investigate without political intervention and try cases on the laws and merit, not the politics. But look at the list we're dealing with here. There's the Justice Department fiasco (remember Gonzo??), illegal wiretapping, leading the country to war based on bogus intel, torture and I'm sure you and others can add to the list.

Thank goodness for having Democrats in key SOS positions...especially Jennifer Brunner...but the GOOP's effort to rig and suppress votes won't stop. The only way is when a few of the "pranksters" sport orange jump suits. Meyers is just another of many lackeys in this regime that rose well beyond the level of their incompetence and turned our government into a private country club. I have no sympathy or mercy for any of these crooks...even the enablers. They must be confronted, prosecuted and a message sent that what happened over the past 8 years represented the worst this country has ever experienced and never to venture there again.

Cheers...

[Virginia Dare]

7. She's a nasty racist too, so I wouldn't doubt it...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Department of Homeland Security will investigate a Halloween costume party hosted by a top immigration official and attended by a man dressed in a striped prison outfit, dreadlocks and darkened skin make-up, a costume some say is offensive, the department's secretary said.


Julie Myers, head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, called the man's costume "offensive."

Julie Myers, head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and host of the fundraising party, was on a three-judge panel that originally praised the prisoner costume for "originality."

Myers later apologized for "a few of the costumes," calling them "inappropriate and offensive." She said she and other senior managers "deeply regret that this happened."

A department photographer photographed Myers with the man, but the images were deleted after the costume were deemed offensive, ICE spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said.

Between 50 and 75 people attended the party, which was a fundraiser for the Combined Federal Campaign, a federal government collection of charities.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/05/ice.costume /