Costume Prompts Apology at Agency
By SUZANNE GAMBOA,
AP
Posted: 2007-11-06 11:24:53
Filed Under: Nation News, Politics News
WASHINGTON (Nov. 5) -- A top immigration official has apologized after
awarding "most original costume" to a Homeland Security Department employee
who dressed in prison stripes, dreadlocks and dark makeup for a Halloween
gathering at the agency.
Homeland Security official Julie Myers, who hosted the party, said "a few of
the costumes" were "offensive."
Julie Myers, assistant secretary overseeing Homeland Security's Immigration
and Customs Enforcement division, was part of a three-judge panel that
lauded the costume, worn by a white employee, last Wednesday. She also posed
for a photo with him.
Myers apologized to employees last Friday in an e-mail, saying some costumes
were found to be offensive. On Friday, she called the National Association
of African Americans in DHS to inform the group of what had happened,
according to a letter sent to association members by the group's vice
president, Sjon Shavers.
"I and the senior management at ICE deeply regret that this happened," Myers
said in her e-mail, which Homeland Security's public affairs office provided
to The Associated Press. "As the head of the agency, I have the
responsibility to ensure every employee is a valued member of the ICE team."
The agency Myers heads is responsible for apprehending and jailing violators
of immigration and customs laws, including conducting raids at work sites to
round up undocumented workers.
The employee who wore the costume was not identified, but ICE spokeswoman
Kelly Nantel said he was counseled by his supervisor. He was not wearing
blackface but makeup that was a darker color than his skin, Nantel said.
Myers and others who saw him could not tell he was wearing makeup, Nantel
said, and they learned he wore makeup when some employees complained later
that day.
The photo of Myers with the employee and any others taken by the official
photographer showing the costume were discarded, Nantel said.
Shavers, an ICE special agent, said he learned of the incident from Myers
and that his group had not received any complaints.
"These kinds of things, incidents, happen all the time, so we handle them on
a case-by-case basis," Shavers said.
Lisa Navarrete, a spokeswoman for the National Council of La Raza, a
national Hispanic civil rights organization, said it was completely
appropriate for Myers to apologize.
"He was clearly trying to not be Caucasian. How dark or light he is, is
beside the point. It is a costume that people did find and would find
offensive that was sanctioned by the executives," Navarrete said. "There's
obviously a sensitivity issue that ICE needs to address with its own staff."
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2007-11-06 09:38:59
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