Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s tenure ”was defined by a consistent disrespect for the rule law,” Senator Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.) said Friday.
Sessions is a fierce opponent of the Senate-passed Gang of Eight immigration reform bill, which, if passed, would give the Department of Homeland Security Secretary considerable flexibility to implement its major provisions as she sees fit. Napolitano’s successor must “disavow” the Obama administration’s “selective enforcement” of current immigration law, Sessions said in a statement.
“The resignation of Secretary Napolitano should refocus the attention of Congress on its first task: to ensure that the executive branch faithfully carries out the laws of the land,” he said. “Whoever replaces Secretary Napolitano must restore the rule of law, as well as the morale of [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers which has plummeted under her tenure.”
Chris Crane, who heads the union representing more than 7,000 ICE employees, told National Review Online that Napolitano “rules with an iron fist,” and ICE agents are “beat down and scared” as a result. According to a 2012 survey of federal agencies, ICE ranked 279th out of 291 agencies in terms of employee morale and job satisfaction.
Sessions’s full statement here:
Secretary Napolitano’s tenure at the Department of Homeland Security was defined by a consistent disrespect for the rule of law.
The resignation of Secretary Napolitano should refocus the attention of Congress on its first task: to ensure that the executive branch faithfully carries out the laws of the land. The most significant obstacle to immigration reform remains President Obama’s selective enforcement of the law. Any selection – interim or permanent – to replace Secretary Napolitano must disavow these aggressive non-enforcement directives or there is very little hope for successful immigration reform.
Whoever replaces Secretary Napolitano must restore the rule of law, as well as the morale of ICE officers which has plummeted under her tenure.