Statement by Secretary Napolitano on President Obama’s Intent to Nominate Alejandro Mayorkas as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director

“I am proud to announce President Obama’s intent to nominate Alejandro Mayorkas as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director. Alejandro comes to the Department of Homeland Security with broad experience as the former United States Attorney for the Central District of California and, most recently, as a partner at O’Melveny and Myers, where he was named one of the ‘50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America’ by the National Law Journal.

Alejandro’s expertise covers a wide array of issues critical to the Department, including law enforcement, civil rights, computer crime and international money laundering.”

Biography

Alejandro Mayorkas

As a partner at O’Melveny and Myers, Mayorkas represents and advises companies around the world on an extensive range of subjects while serving on the firm’s Policy Committee and chairing the Warren Christopher Scholarship Committee. Previously, he became the youngest U.S. Attorney in the nation at the age of 39, serving California’s Central District from 1998-2001 where he led 240 Assistant U.S. Attorneys, created a Civil Rights Section to prosecute acts of intolerance and discrimination, and developed multiple programs to fight violent crime. Mayorkas previously served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District office from 1989-1998. He holds a J.D. from Loyola Law School and a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Coast Guard Cutter Tampa to return home

PORTSMOUTH, VA. - The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa is scheduled to return to Portsmouth 9 a.m. Friday following a busy, 61-day patrol in the Caribbean Sea.

During the patrol, the Tampa interdicted an unseaworthy vessel north of Haiti with 45 illegal migrants aboard.  All were safely embarked on the cutter and repatriated to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

The Tampa also served as a holding platform for 100 Cuban migrants, providing food, water, shelter and necessary medical attention. All migrants were returned to Cuba.

Also, the Tampa assisted a disabled vessel taking on water in the Yucatan Channel.  A Rescue and Assistance team from the cutter refueled and repaired the vessel and sent it on its way.

During the Tampa’s last port call in Nassau, Bahamas, the crew participated in a community relations project at the Bahamas National Council for Disabilities.  Crewmembers spent all day clearing brush, removing mold from ceilings and soiled carpeting, and painting rooms and hallways.

The Tampa is one of six 270-foot medium endurance cutters homeported in Portsmouth.

Litigation a Possibility in Coast Guard Civil Rights Office Non-Compliance with Law

One of our regular readers BJ left a comment on our post Coast Guards Office of Civil Rights: Subjugated Authority and Missing Reviews.  That post has been pretty popular possibly because its writer provided a defense for the current Director.  That said, our response to BJ this morning has found its own place as a stand alone post.  Fortunately we received the green light to release information on possible future litigation just last week, making this opportune time to reply a comment by a regular reader and of late a regular contributor of sorts to CGR.

The reply to BJ’s comments available at the link above and here:

Again we agree with you on many of your points, but not all.  We expect this issue will go to trial and wagons have already begun to circle.  The approach to possible litigation that is on the horizon is very complex and requires full vetting by many regulatory agencies.  This is perhaps a landmark case in the making.  A branch of the military allowed its Civil Rights Office to operate for over a decade outside the law.  Admiral Allen himself was notified in writing of employees who tried to bring this issue to the Coast Guards attention and faced repeated reprisal.  Admiral Allen did not order an end to the reprisal, and many more employees faced reprimands for standing up and speaking on failures that leadership knew existed for a decade.

This is a very serious issue.  A branch of the Military not only tolerated but allowed systemic issues related to non-compliance with Civil Rights laws to be borne by the employees seeking assistance.

“there have apparently been no consequences for these failures – except perhaps the individual consequences that Coast Guard personnel may have borne, some of whom may have been denied the opportunity to effectively challenge what they may have felt was discriminatory treatment. “

Congressman Elijah Cummings at the 1 April 2009 hearing on Coast Guard Civil Rights and Diversity

Yesterday we had a post about the silence of the Commandant of the Coast Guard on this issue.  Adm. Allen’s silence has been deafening to the employees past and present still bearing this load.  So back to BJ’s statement that they hope this doesn’t end up going to trial.  Sadly that is the very direction I see this headed.  I attended a law briefing on this subject last week.  The process was briefed as one that will be long, hard and unfortunately require many of the aggrieved parties to go public with their story.  My sense of the situation is that no one was looking so much for monetary compensation as they were for accountability at Coast Guard headquarters and immediate corrective actions to bring the Office of Civil Rights in compliance with the law.

At the end of the day as in any Civil Rights struggle of the past, someone or some group of individuals must take a stand and be willing to face reprisal head on for the better good.  It’s unfortuante that in this case the individuals are standing  up for equal civil rights against a branch of the military.

DHS Auditors: Coast Guard, FEMA weak on controls

Alice Lipowicz picked up on a story we ran on the 27th of April. Frankly we like it when we beat the mainstream media to a story. We’re doing that more often than not thanks to a great network of contributors, contacts, sources and informants.

By Alice Lipowicz
FCW.com
April 28, 2009

The Coast Guard made more progress than the Federal Emergency Management Agency in securing information technology systems in fiscal 2008, according to two new audits [1] released by Homeland Security Department Inspector General Richard Skinner.

The DHS agencies have material weakness in IT controls overall, although they are experiencing fewer deficiencies than in the previous year,  according to audits conducted by KPMG and released by Skinner April 27.

Auditors found 22 weaknesses in IT controls at the Coast Guard in fiscal 2008 — 21 repeat findings and one new finding. However, the service has made progress since fiscal 2007, when auditors found 42 IT-related control deficiencies, of which 40 were repeat problems.

In the new audit, the company found problems with application software development and change controls, access controls, service continuity and entitywide security planning and management.

Coast Guard Admiral Busy Talking about everything except Civil Rights

Since the 1 April 2009 House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Transportation hearing on Coast Guard Civil Rights, Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant of the Coast Guard has been silent on the issues related to his Civil Rights programs.  During that same period of time, the Admiral made over 30 posts to his iCommandant Blog.  As the Chief Equal Employment Opportunity Officer for the Coast Guard, these are his failed programs and his to correct, protect and safeguard.

Congressmen Elijah Cummings and Jim Oberstar have released public statements on their disappointments with Coast Guards Civil Rights programs, but Admiral Allen has remained silent.  One truth remains self evident here, 29 C.F.R. 1614 places responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the Commandant of the Coast Guard to carry out a compliant with law Civil Rights program.  The Director, Office of Civil Rights his the Commandant’s direct report in meeting this federally mandated requirement.  Price Waterhouse Coopers, KPMG and Booz Allen Hamilton have completed reports going back a decade and as recently as February of this year that confirm Coast Guard has not met is requirement to run a Civil Rights program compliant with the law.

Sadly Coast Guard has employees ready, willing and able to step up to plate and fix these issues quickly.  We know first hand that Coast Guard has employees who knew the answers on 1 April 2009 that Radm. Breckenridge and Ms. Dickerson did not know.  Coast Guard has employees who are exacting in detail and able to make the right critical decisions with proved organizational restructuring skills.  Coast Guard has employees we know to have nearly 30 years experience turning failed programs of all types around and bringing them into compliance and full mission support excellence.  We also know some of these employees have been asked to take a seat at the back of the bus.

These employees have been forced to take a stand and they are standing on the shoulders of women like Rosa Parks and they are stopping at the top of the stairs to be heard.  The stairs current and past Coast Guard employees are climbing are those leading to the offices of members of congress.  Coast Guard tore down the bus stop at 2100 Second St. and the next and last stop is Capital Hill.

Civil Rights on Deck

EEOC ISSUES EMPLOYER BEST PRACTICES DOCUMENT ON WORK/FAMILY BALANCE

Panelists Discuss Importance of Caregiver-Friendly Policies During Recession

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued a document on best practices to avoid discrimination against workers with caregiving responsibilities, and held a public meeting to discuss the importance of policies that protect caregivers in an economic downturn.

The technical assistance document, Employer Best Practices for Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities, is available online at http://www.eeoc/policy/docs/caregiver-best-practices.html. The best practices document supplements Unlawful Disparate Treatment of Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities, a guidance document issued by the Commission in 2007. The 2007 guidance, available online at http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/caregiving.html, examines how federal anti-discrimination laws apply to workers with caregiving responsibilities.

EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru said the best practices document builds on the Commission’s 2007 guidance. “Today we take another step forward, articulating not just the bare minimum required to avoid unlawful discrimination, but also thinking broadly about the ways in which family-friendly workplace policies can improve workers’ ability to balance caregiving responsibilities with work.”

Read more.

News Bites from DEOMI

Affirmative Action

Jerry Brown calls Prop. 209 unconstitutional

Justices Explore Role Race May Play in Employment

Employment

Government Union battles West Point over privatization of 300 jobs

Hate Groups

Why are hate groups on the rise

Immigration

After Losing Freedom, Some Immigrants Face Loss of Custody of Their Children

Military

As many as 13 soldier suicides in March

Civilian layoff led to Colonel’s Military career

Military/Civilian Misconduct

Innocent Marine freed after 9 years in prison

Information Technology Management Letter for the United States Coast Guard Component of the FY 2008 DHS Financial Statement Audit

Key quotes from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report on Information Technology Management Letter for the United States Coast Guard Component of the FY 2008 DHS Financial Statement Audit:

During our audit engagement, we noted certain matters in the area of application software development and change control with respect to Coast Guard’s financial systems Information Technology (IT) general controls which we believe contribute to a DHS-level significant deficiency that is considered a material weakness in IT general and application controls.

During FY 2008, we continued to identify IT general control weaknesses at Coast Guard.

The most significant weaknesses from a financial statement audit perspective related to the development, implementation, and tracking of scripts.

These IT control weaknesses limited Coast Guard’s ability to ensure that critical financial and operational data were maintained in such a manner to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability. In addition, these weaknesses negatively impacted the internal controls over Coast Guard financial reporting and its operation and we consider them to collectively represent a material weakness for Coast Guard under standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

In addition, based upon the results of our test work we noted that the Coast Guard did not fully comply with the requirements of Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA).

Of the 22 findings identified during our FY 2008 testing, 21 were repeat findings, either partially or in whole from the prior year, and 1 was a new IT finding.

Admiral Thad Allen directs Coast Guard Director Office of Civil Rights to Upate Website; No Action

A reader reminded us that Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant of the Coast Guard stated in his 19 February 2009 endorsement of the Booz Allen Report on Coast Guard Civil Rights:

The Director of Civil Rights will post the report on its web site and provide periodic progress updates for the benefit of the workforce.

We have scoured the Civil Rights web site and can’t find the updates.  This is not a surprise, the Directors website which is her tool for keeping the Coast Guard workforce up to date is seldom up to date.  Both of her news letters she assured members of congress were her tools for communicating with her 22 employees and the workforce are out of date.

The April 2009 edition of “Civil Rights on Deck” has not been published to the website, and the newest addition to the Directors tools the newsletter Civil Rights Space has not been updated since February.  No branch of the military has ever had its Civil Rights program called out by Congress for failing to protect its workforce, and Coast Guards emphasis on this program is still falling behind.

Commandant Letter Endorsement

Coast Guard did not Listen to Congress says Rep. James Oberstar

Rep. Jim Oberstar

Also of concern to this Committee is ensuring the level of minority acceptances at the Coast Guard Academy reflects the composition of America. To have offered only nine African-Americans acceptance for an entering class of approximately 300 this coming Fall is unacceptable. Clearly, the Coast Guard did not listen to this Committee last September when our Members challenged them on low admission rates for minorities.

The Honorable James L. Oberstar, Chairman,  Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Hearing on “Civil Rights Services and Diversity Initiatives in the Coast Guard” April 1, 2009.

Coast Guard Not Spending Modest Sums Necessary to Protect Civil Rights

U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar

The Coast Guard has apparently chosen not to spend adequate money to ensure its personnel are guaranteed their fundamental rights to work in a fair and equitable environment. As the service works to defend our homeland, this service must be willing to spend the modest sums necessary to protect the civil rights of the men and women, both military and civilian, who work for the Coast Guard and ultimately serve our nation.

The Honorable James L. Oberstar, Chairman,  Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Hearing on “Civil Rights Services and Diversity Initiatives in the Coast Guard” April 1, 2009.