ICE head Julie Myers at a 2007 Halloween party with an employee wearing a racially insensitive costume. The House Homeland Security Committee released this photo in April and obscured the face of the costumed employee.

From FederalTimes.com:

by Stephen Losey

Immigration and Customs Enforcement head Julie Myers today became the first major appointee to resign after Barack Obama’s victory. Her last day will be Nov. 15.

Myers’ nearly three-year tenure at ICE has been dogged by controversy, though she eventually won over some skeptics.

That Halloween, Myers was one of three judges who dubbed an ICE employee’s racially insensitive costume “most original” at an official ICE costume party. The employee wore a black-and-white striped prison jumpsuit and a dreadlocked wig and had darkened his skin to look black. Myers also was photographed with the employee.

Myers later ordered the photographs to be deleted, though the original files on the camera survived. ICE said she ordered the deletion because she realized too late the costume was offensive and wanted to keep it from accidentally being printed in official publications, and not as part of a coverup because she feared the photographs could derail her Senate confirmation.

They nearly did. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., placed a hold on Myers’ confirmation in November 2007 after word leaked out about the costume. Read more…
Related:

MOPNS: 11/27/07 Bond Now Supports Relative for ICE Director

MOPNS: 11/19/07 Good PR Thicker Than Blood?

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