Thread: The Administration’s Mixed Signals on Immigration Policy

February 24th, 2009- by Chris Battle
By federal government standards, there has been a veritable frenzy of activity related to immigration at the Department of Homeland Security. With three high-profile appointments in the last couple of weeks, the Administration has sent mixed signals about the direction it intends to take on immigration policy from a public perspective, as well as how it intends to manage the effort from an internal perspective. Oddly, the mainstream media seems to have missed or ignored these developments.

This series of appointments began with the frankly bizarrely titled “Special Adviser for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Detention and Removal.â€

Esther Olavarria:

Esther Olavarria serves as General Counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chair of Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Citizenship on the US Senate Judiciary Committee. She is Senator Kennedy’s primary advisor on immigration, nationality, and refugee legislation and policies. Prior to her current job, Ms. Olavarria practiced immigration law in Miami, Florida, working at several nonprofit organizations. She co-founded the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center and served as managing attorney, supervising the direct service work of the organization. She also has worked at Legal Services of Greater Miami, as the directing attorney of the American Immigration Lawyers Association Pro Bono Project, and at the Haitian Refugee Center as a staff attorney.


Judging from her background I would say that Olavarria is definitely going to be a soft touch for the IA population! Maybe it's time to start hitting her with the ICE and CBP news briefs.