Round Up and Prosecution to be Prime Priority for Napolitano and New ICE Director

PHOENIX (By Jon Garrido, The Jon Garrido News Network) February 24, 2009 — Round up and prosecution will the driving theme of ICE under Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Napolitano has named a career prosecutor to head the federal government's immigration enforcement operations.

When confirmed, John Morton would be the third federal prosecutor to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency in the Homeland Security Department. Morton is acting deputy assistant attorney of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.

Morton started his career as a trial attorney with the Justice Department in 1994 and has developed department policies for immigration crime — including human smuggling and passport and visa fraud, according to Homeland Security's biography of him. In 2002 he coordinated the airport busts of nearly 100 people who lied on their applications to get security badges for restricted parts of Dulles International and Ronald Reagan National airports.

Morton's predecessor had a difficult time getting through Senate confirmation. Some claimed Julie Myers did not have the management experience to lead the law enforcement agency.

The entire immigration service needs to be back under the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where it was before Homeland Security was dreamed up.

DOJ is run by lawyers, who are generally pretty smart and well educated lawyers.

According to some, "The Department of Homeland Security is run by rent-a-cop security guards and special-ops wanna-bes."

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has made it clear immigration enforcement is among her top priorities. In her first week on the job, the former Arizona governor ordered a review of the fugitive operations teams. She created a new advisory position to focus on detention issues and arrest priorities at ICE, and named Dora Schriro, the former head of Arizona's Corrections Department, to the post.

In a statement, Napolitano praised the selections of Morton.

"Morton has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to public service and will be able and an effective partner as we tackle the very complex issues surrounding immigration and securing of our borders," she said.