Julie Myers, Director, ICE
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has just announced that its 3 week pilot program entitled; Operation Scheduled Departure has ended. The program, by which, non-criminal illegal aliens could report for deportation, has now concluded with a grand-total of (drumroll please).........eight (8) persons who turned themselves in.
As Lawrence Welk used to say, "Ah wonderful, ah wonderfulah".
Who in the world dreamed up that hare-brained scheme?
Probably Julie Myers, the thirty-something young lady who was appointed by President Bush to head the agency after a few years as an Asst US Attorney and various DOJ jobs. Some charged that she got the job because she was the girlfriend, now wife of Michael Cherthoff's assistant, John Wood. Others said that she got the job precisely because she was a lightweight, someone who could be pushed around. God only knows her agency doesn't get a lot of love and support from Washington.
Speaking of scheduled departure, didn't she announce a few months ago that she was leaving for a high-paying job in the private sector-as most of them eventually do? When I told that to a friend of mine who works for the agency, the response was, "good".
So how much did this "operation" cost? In order to justify 8 deportees, I would guess it must have been a real shoestring operation, like say $50?
On a more serious note, this is just another example of why we don't want to give more power to our government, say in the area of health care, etc. That is not to criticize ICE as an agency. I'll bet the mortgage that this scheme didn't originate in the field. It must have originated in agency HQs in Washington.
Therein lies the problem. When I was a DEA agent (1973-1995), we had a damn good outfit-at the agent and street level. The problem was whenever our HQs got involved. At that point, we were dealing with a bureaucracy, even though most HQs personnel were ex-street agents who had risen to supervisory level and were doing their obligatory HQs tour of duty. It was a completely different mentality. I am sure the same is true of ICE-and all the other agencies.
So, if you are one of those folks who want to entrust more and more of your life to government, remember Operation Scheduled Departure.
No comments:
Post a Comment