President Bush's nominee to head U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has drawn the ire of several ICE supervisors and agents who say she is "unqualified" because she has never held a law-enforcement management position.

The nomination of Julie L. Myers "just doesn't pass the smell test and is another indication that this administration created the Department of Homeland Security as window dressing and does not care whether ICE is successful," said Matthew Issman, national legislative vice president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA).

"What we need is a strong, law-enforcement leader, not another inexperienced, well-connected lawyer with friends in the White House."

...[Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-OH] later met with Mrs. Myers and is expected to support the nomination.

But several ICE supervisors and agents complained last week that the agency has struggled in its attempt to establish a specific mission strategy, despite the expenditure of billions of dollars in tax money and said a strong leader is vital for improvement.

They also criticized what they called poor administrative systems, ongoing budgetary concerns, a hiring freeze, morale problems and a lack of cohesion and identity.

Mr. Issman has been at the forefront of a movement within ICE to point out to members of Congress what supervisors and field agents say are major "systemic issues and concerns."

"With a lightweight like Myers, we will just continue to lose more ground and will be relegated to becoming an also-ran," Mr. Issman said...