Whaddya Gonna Do? Julie Myers Confirmed

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Julie L. Myers as director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, two years after President Bush appointed her to the position amid questions about her qualifications to lead the government’s second-largest law-enforcement agency. Myers appointment were approved by a voice vote.  Besides concerns with whether she had enough experience to lead the agency, critics noted that she was engaged — and is now married — to John F. Wood, who was chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and is now the U.S. attorney in Kansas City. Retired Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is her uncle. Julie Myers was Chertoff’s chief of staff when he led the Justice Department’s criminal division.

But that was not the end of the controversy.  Myers’ appointment ran into trouble again this fall when she gave the “most original” costume award to a white employee who came to the agency’s Halloween party dressed as an escaped prisoner with dreadlocks and darkened skin. The incident elicited an apology from Myers and a “leave’ from the agency.

In a time when there is a great deal of concern with immigration enforcement, combined with the longtime concern with the racial sensitivity of the immigration bureaucracy, it seems that a better person for the job could have been found.   The good news is that the Bush administration soon will be part of history.

For the AP story on Myers’ confirmation, click here.

UPDATE:  For an interview with Myers about ICE’s 2007 achievements, click here.

KJ