Customs Tells Workers to Stop Helping FEMA

[Angry Girl]

The U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency told its employees Wednesday to stop volunteering for hurricane relief duty with the government's primary disaster agency so they can focus on helping New Orleans police instead.

In an internal memorandum distributed to Customs Enforcement employees, the agency's director of human resources, Christine M. Greco, directed workers to withdraw offers to volunteer with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Both agencies are under the Department of Homeland Security, and immigration and customs employees have been helping FEMA in rescue support roles such as helping hurricane victims fill out paper work and so on.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050908/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/katrina_customs_volunteers

Nightweed's Hurricane Katrina Aid Organizations

[bobbieinok]

1. ????????IOW, stop helping, start arresting????????

[Lochloosa]

2. Christine, I applaud your candor...but

bye bye

[rooboy]

3. Understandable given what FEMA did with the 1400 firefighters. n/t

[stillcool]

4. I must be missing something...

why would local police need help now? It must look like the Green Zone by now....who are they going to arrest....the NG??

[AlCzervik]

5. maybe they don't want their employees under under control of DHS or Brown

maybe that person at customs would rather them report to local offcials.

[Sgent]

6. I can kind of understand this

Since Army can perform in a support role, LEO's (like custom's agents) are comparitively rare. Use them where they can't be used elsewhere.

[skooooo]

7. I think..

...the mutiny has started. This is pretty small potatoes, but I think it's indicative of what's to come.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

8. I think, you may be correct

We'll have to wait and see what the future brings, but this could spark more to follow.