ICE OPENLY DEFIES SECRETARY NAPOLITANO

This is getting interesting. Remember my post from a few weeks ago about a work site raid in Washington state that apparently was conducted by ICE in direct opposition to the wishes of Secretary Napolitano. Now it appears that some at ICE are reveling in taking on the boss of the agency and, by extension, the new President.

Conservative bloggers have leaked the following email from the ICE special agent in charge in Seattle to fellow agents that openly defies the White House's wishes as just politics and circulates a Republican press release to justify the agency's actions. Remember that this is an official ICE communication and not just the personal thoughts of an employee of the agency.

From: Winchell, Leigh H
To: ICE-OI-VSE-SAC-DG
Copy to: Rutt, Robert P; Kibble, Kumar C (DHS); Weber, Robert
Sent: Thu Feb 26 10:00:04 2009
Subject: FW: Napolitano's Investigation of Investigators is Beyond Backwards

To all SAC [DS: Special Agent in Charge Office]

Seattle employees,

By now you have all experienced or heard of the issues that have been made out of some very fine work by our Blaine and Seattle offices when conducting the worksite case in Bellingham two days ago. I want to tell you all how very proud I am of the manner in which you operated during this enforcement action. You did nothing wrong and you did everything right. From ASAC to agent, all the bases were covered, and covered very well. I cannot control the politics that take place with these types of situations, but I can remind you that you are great servants of this country and this agency. I am proud to be your SAC and I know that this distraction will not keep you from fulfilling your wide ranging duties as ICE agents. I also know that you have the support and gratitude of our leadership in ICE HQ.

I thought you would like to see this press release from the House Judiciary Committee.

Leigh

The press release referred to by Agent Winchell can be found here.

Comments

[Jenda]

Obama's picture is still not up at BIA, ICE or even SSA offices. This is not because of hostility at these agencies, but because the President still has not gotten his act together enough to get around to such trifles, or to making his political appointments. Much of the disconnect between vague directives (or diktats announced but not implemented by top management that lacks immediate subordinates) has to do with this lack of attention, not political hostility.
A good middle manager or low level manager will do what he can to keep up the morale of his troops.

That said, the sort of open insubordination shown by the CIA, DOS and NIE people in the last years of the Bush Administration (remember all the leaks about surveillance programs at banks or on the Internet, or the wild swings in the intelligence estimates of Iran's nukes that were bragged about by the creators as steps to tie any push to military action before the next election?) are a real problem and can be addressed at any agency by using already extant administrative and legal remedies. We shall see if the the Holder Justice Department has the guts to go after leakers and politicized civil service career employees (as opposed to political appointees, where the clear remedy is a political replacement). Somehow, in an environment where actual abuses in DOJ civil-service hiring were overshadowed by imagined ones in political employee attorney firings, I seriously doubt it.

[IN DISBELIEF]

Maybe Napolitano should obey the laws as they are written instead of directing her subordinates to ignore the law! Those jobs(that the liberals would have us believe "nobody else wants") are needed by tax-paying legal americans. Way to go ICE! Keep doing your job to the best of your ability, sooner or later these clowns will hang themselves.

[Alix]

Loving every moment of it. when it comes to immigration, it is very common for IO at various visa posts to ignore directives and memos from Department of State. After all, it is *their* discretion.

Now we see the culture seep in where they are ignoring directives from the executive brand on the mainland USA!!!

I doubt if the administration will simply cave but it should be fun to watch anyways :)

[Legal and no longer waiting]

I don't think there were any question regarding the types of people who choose to work for ICE.

[Another voice]

Its sounds like they want to put Obama and Napolitano on the defensive by forcing them to justify the review of ICE practices throughout the Bush administration years. I do not think that the president will take the bite at the apple but it does prompt the question as to how Napolitano should handle an open defiance in her department to her authority.

[George Chell]

Lamar Smith is a crooked politicians who is on the side of the American workers when it comes to immigration but likes to screw the Americans workers when it comes to minimum wage and other legislation of interest to them. Too bad, the Dems dont call his bluff!