May 01, 2006

Stealth Sacking For EOIR Chief Immigration Judge!

Michael J. Creppy of the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has been sacked from his position as Chief Immigration Judge.

But the federal immigration bureaucracy’s least known but most arrogant component has yet to acknowledge Creppy’s reassignment on its official web site, nor in the biographical information for its (now former) Office of the Chief Immigration Judge, nor in its press releases section.

Here at VDARE.COM, I have been calling for a thorough housecleaning of the EOIR—also for its complete abolition, as a matter of fact—as well as the firing of Creppy ever since the Department of Justice paid out $11.5 Million taxpayer dollars to settle an anti-white racial discrimination lawsuit filed by white males who were passed over for EOIR immigration judge assignments because of the EOIR’s apparently overzealous celebration of diversity on Creppy’s watch.

Evidently someone at the DOJ finally got the message and at least demoted the EOIR’s $11.5 Million Man.

The National Law Journal reported:

"The United States Department of Justice has quietly reassigned controversial Chief Immigration Judge Michael Creppy to a smaller venue as Chief Administrative Hearing Officer, heading an office that had fewer than 50 cases last year, rather than the 350,000 he managed as the nation’s top immigration judge.

"David L. Neal, Board of Immigration Appeals [BIA] staff attorney, takes over from Creppy this week." [IN BRIEF – "Chief immigration judge is reassigned," (subscriber link) The National Law Journal, April 24, 2006]

Actually, Neal is not a BIA staff attorney. He is in fact an Assistant Chief Immigration Judge who was most recently given an assignment to the Headquarters Immigration Court (HQIC) on July 19, 2004.

Although Neal is most likely technically assigned to Creppy’s former position as the "Acting Chief Immigration Judge", one would have to wonder if the formal federal employment announcement for the position of Chief Immigration Judge will be made as required by law. Hmmmm?

The EOIR’s official silence on its web site may be a clue, though. The previous Chief Immigration Judge—none other than Creppy himself—was appointed by the Clinton administration without going through the formal required legal process of a notice of position announcement.

The question remains whether the next permanent hire for Creppy’s job will have any experience with immigration law…or simply be a well-connected Republican operative.

The National Law Journal speculated concerning the reasons for Creppy’s reassignment, but it did not mention the $11.5 million legal settlement as a factor:

"Creppy’s departure may be the harbinger of more changes given the near completion of Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez’s internal review of the Immigration Courts nationwide. But Larry Levine, spokesman for the DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review [EOIR] said that criticism of Creppy did not prompt the reassignment.

"DOJ Officials decided Creppy was the right person to head the hearing office, which investigates document fraud and overseas employer sanctions, Levine said."

Well, there you have it folks. Creppy is gone as king of the EOIR immigration judges. But the damage has been done.

Blowing Own Trumpet Dept.: The National Law Journal reported on the $11.5 million DOJ/EOIR settlement on November 15, 2004. [DOJ pays $11.5M in race bias case, The National Law Journal,]

But here at VDARE.com, I managed to scoop this MSM print journal by almost two months – 09/20/04 - Fire Michael J. Creppy —DOJ’s $11.5 Million Man! .

Hooray for the internet!

Juan Mann [email him] is an attorney and the proprietor of DeportAliens.com. He writes a weekly column for VDARE.com and contributes to Michelle Malkin’s Immigration BLOG.