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Many readers have sent me notes of their disappointment with the performance of Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief a/k/a “The ICE Princess,” on a radio show, last night, just after the President’s .
The ICE Princess was on the Hugh Hewitt radio show, and while she single-handedly changed his mind on whether the Bush Administration is serious on immigration (he turned her against Bush), I, frankly, thought he asked her the wrong questions and really does not understand what her job is about.
Hewitt repeatedly questioned The ICE Princess on the fence, which the President mentioned as one of the steps he’ll take along the Southern border. She said she was against it. And while this was the wrong answer–a politically dumb move for a girl from the mall who was handed a gift job (and she displayed how uninformed she is about the necessity and effectiveness of the fence)–the fence is not really her area. Not that she has done any good in “her area.”

(ICE Valley Girl by David Lunde)
And that’s where Hewitt was just not effective. While I agree with him on the necessity of the fence, he just did not have a clue about immigration enforcement, ICE, or what Myers is supposed to be doing (and isn’t). Here’s the audio of the interview, and here’s the transcript. (Thanks also to Tom Blumer of Bizzy Blog for the alert, and his posts on the ICE Princess here and here.)
He did not ask The ICE Princess why , even thought the President claimed, last night, he was ending it. He did not ask her why without even checking the validity of their IDs.
He did not ask why–if immigration enforcement is truly a priority–few former INS agents were made Special Agents in Charge and are seen and treated as evil stepchildren versus former Customs Agents in the ICE hierarchy. He could have asked what specifically she has done to try to find and arrest the 12-20 million illegals in our midst, and how only 27,000 beds will even make a dent in that problem.
He did not challenge The ICE Princess’ claim that she is working with other countries to speed up the travel documents for illegals who are ordered deported. If that’s the case, why is terrorist Imam still in prison and not a single country will issue travel documents to get rid of him? The same is . He did not ask if she is trying to get the State Department to exert more pressure on countries of deportees to allow them to be deported there. She isn’t. He could have asked why not.
He did not ask The ICE Princess why she when she doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing. He did not ask about the “law enforcement experience” she claims to have but does not. He did not ask what will happen with the agency when she leaves, due to her pregnancy (confirmed in today’s Washington Post, but ). He could have asked why she is when ICE already has a bevy of lawyers. He could have asked whether that money–and the $30,000 Abu Moskowitz spent on new furniture–could have been better spent on more agents.
He did not ask The ICE Princess why her Michigan/Ohio Special Agent in Charge continues to fraternize with a ) and a . Or why, in Michigan, the heart of Islamic America, very, very .
He did not ask why a man tied to drug killings remains a high-ranking Assistant Director of ICE. He did not ask her how she can claim to be serious about getting child sex criminals, when she won’t get tough on her convicted sex criminal agent a/k/a “Frankie the Fig”. He did not ask why agents who are trying to do their jobs are treated as vermin whereas those who deliberately break laws, commit crimes, or just plain don’t do their jobs, keep getting promoted.
There are these and so many other important things he could have asked but didn’t. But he asked about the fence, which is really a Customs and Border Protection issue (and perhaps his confusion on this is symbolic of why CBP and ICE should be merged, despite the ICE Princess’ and Chertoff a/k/a Mr. Burns’ opposition to it).
Next time, Hugh Hewitt, please do your homework. You let this cat off easy. And, by doing so, you let the President off easy, too.
***
Hugh Hewitt on Myers:

My interview with Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Julie Myers staggered me, undoing in a handful of minutes my confidence in the president’s commitment to border security first. Either the president’s team had not communicated effectively with sub-cabinet appointees about the fence, or the president doesn’t really believe in the fence, because Assistant Secretary Myers is clearly not a proponent of the fence.

Reader reaction to The ICE Princess Does Radio:
Rick O.:

Dear President Bush,
Only an hour after your address Hugh Hewitt interviewed Julie Meyers and was staggered (his words) by her lack of support of the initiatives outlined in your talk. She has undone in 10 minutes what you hoped to accomplish with your talk. She is a paper princess with no concept of the damage she is causing you. She has NO credentials for the job. She is an anchor that will pull you under on immigration. Don’t let this political lightweight hack sabotage your presidency. You are fighting (and losing) a battle with the CIA. ICE is one battle you can win. Pick someone with serious law enforcement and management credentials. Give them room to operate. Cover their back so that flacks like DiFi (D-California) and ChuckyCheese Hagel don’t undermine them. Make it clear to his/her superiors that they WILL support the new ICE chief. Make this thing really happen! If your pollsters have told you Americans will settle for tough talk but no action they are WRONG. We are tired of hearing you say one thing on immigration and then have your appointees run off and do things they way they want in direct contradiction to your words. Julie Meyers is absolutely NOT going to do anything to get you what you want. She is a major handicap.
Please, Mr. President back up your words with people who will make them happen. Julie Meyers is NOT the right person to be running ICE.

Scott C. writes:

Debbie:
Julie Meyers stupidity on display in an interview with Hugh Hewitt.
Hugh Hewitt was very disappointed with her discussing the border fence and her lack of knowledge.
How to undo the impact of a Presidential address in one easy lesson.
“I don’t think we think that fencing is the best way to stop them on the border. I think the President’s called for…if you build a fence, they build a tunnel.” – I.C.E. Asst. Secretary Julie Myers.

I concur and add this: How to undo the impact of immigration enforcement in one easy lesson: Appoint The ICE Princess.
Reader Bill P.:

Debbie,
If you didn’t hear it already, please listen/read to what Julie Myers had to say to Hugh Hewitt in follow-up to the President’s speech last night. Either the President is bluffing or she really is an incompetent loose cannon.