Thread: ICE's new boss stands up for herself

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ICE's new boss stands up for herself



Web Posted: 02/04/2006 12:00 AM CST
Hernán Rozemberg
Express-News Immigration Writer

Flanked by a row of much older, somber-looking men, Julie Myers took the podium and, without much posturing or fanfare, proudly described her agents' latest successful crime-fighting operation.

The Friday morning news conference at the San Antonio office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, was Myers' first public appearance at the helm of the massive agency, part of the Homeland Security Department and the second-largest federal investigative organization after the FBI.

Her announcement focused on back-to-back busts last week by a multiagency task force based in Laredo that netted homemade explosives, heavy weaponry, cameras, drugs and more than $1 million.

Some politicians and law enforcement officers would have preferred to see someone else stepping up to the podium as the new face of the agency.

President Bush promoted Myers, 36, to the position last month as a "recess appointment" — temporarily circumventing congressional vetting and approval.


Bob Owen/Express-News

At Friday's news conference, ICE chief Julie Myers focused on raids in Laredo that netted explosives, weapons and drugs.

Critics have said Myers might not have survived the confirmation process, arguing the job is way over her head and her rise smacks of nepotism.

Myers previously worked with the person who nominated her, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

She's married to John Wood, Chertoff's chief of staff. And she's the niece of Richard Myers, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Politicians showed strong skepticism when she appeared for congressional hearings on her nomination.

At a September hearing, Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, told Myers he wanted to have a talk with Chertoff, saying, "I'd really like to have him spend some time with us telling us why he thinks you're qualified for the job, because based on the résumé I don't think you are."

That was followed by a national onslaught of intense questioning by experts and conservative and liberal pundits, the typical accusation being that Myers had neither the background nor the management skills to lead ICE, an agency with 15,000 workers and a $4 billion annual budget.

In an interview after Friday's news conference, Myers defended her credentials, saying the attacks against her have been unfair.

Before taking over ICE, she was an aide to Bush on personnel issues. She also was assistant secretary for export enforcement at the Commerce Department, overseeing 170 workers and a $25 million budget. She had been Chertoff's chief of staff while he directed the Justice Department's criminal division.

Myers started her career at a private law firm before becoming an assistant U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Though she quickly moved from one job to another, Myers said each of her government positions provided plenty of grounding on immigration and customs law enforcement, the core of ICE's work.

"I've already handled many of the same things I'm now doing here at ICE," she said rapid-fire. "I've prosecuted immigration cases and dealt with complex narcotics violations."

She preferred to discuss her strategy for the agency. The embattled organization still is recuperating from budgetary shortfalls and accusations of mismanagement.

Still lingering is the matter of how best to integrate two traditionally rival federal agencies into the same team.

Immigration investigations differ vastly from customs cases, but Myers remained optimistic that synergy eventually will carry the day.

Still, with all the talk about "interconnectedness," Myers said she backed her boss's decision to forego a widely supported merger of ICE with its sister agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which includes the Border Patrol.

Myers seemed well versed in other key agency issues, detailing strategies for "going after the bad guys," including drug and immigrant smugglers.

More interior enforcement of immigration violations — such as worksite raids — is coming thanks to increased funding, she said, adding that if combined with a possible guest worker program, the flow of undocumented immigrants would be cut.

Other ideas include alternative ways to detain immigrants, such as releasing them with electronic-monitoring devices, and expanding a federal program enabling local and state police to be deputized as immigration agents.

Myers also said she has plenty of ideas on customs enforcement, such as expanding money-laundering investigations.

Bottom line, her message to skeptics and detractors is simple: Just give her a chance.

"I'm thrilled to be at this agency, and I hope folks in the field are already seeing some of the positive changes I'm making," she said.

For now, one of those potential adversaries is willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

But that will quickly change if she shows unwillingness to heed concerns and advice from the rank and file, said Charles Showalter, president of the National Homeland Security Council, the union representing nearly 8,000 ICE employees.

Myers said that when her appointment expires at the end of 2007 she'd like to be confirmed by Congress and keep the job.



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hrozemberg@express-news.net

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