Atty. Gen. Aide Calls Ezell a ‘Short-Termer’ in His INS Post

Harold Ezell, the top immigration official in the West whose brash public statements prompted many Latino activists to demand his ouster, will very likely be asked to leave his job soon, a Justice Department spokesman said Thursday.

Ezell, 52, has asked the Bush White House to keep him in the post he has held since late 1983, but the former fast-food executive was described as a “short termer” by David Runkel, chief spokesman for U.S. Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh, when asked about Ezell’s future in the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The agency is part of the Justice Department.

“I would expect there would be a new INS director in that region as part of bringing in a new management team for the INS,” Runkel said.

The statement, reflecting the views of some Administration officials who said they were embarrassed by the behavior of the agency’s Western regional commissioner, followed Ezell’s admission earlier this week that he erred when he appeared at a party held in Honolulu by Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos last August.

At the party, Ezell led a prayer asking for the couple’s safe return to the Philippines. He also danced with Imelda Marcos and called out at one point, “Eat your heart out!”

His appearance at the party came as the Justice Department is investigating the former Philippines president and his wife for allegedly diverting government funds to purchase millions of dollars worth of New York real estate. The Marcoses, who fled Manila in 1986, are now facing U.S. charges in connection with the alleged scheme.

Runkel would not elaborate on his statement, but other Justice Department officials said Ezell’s departure was tied more to the need for new INS managers. Ezell’s sometimes-outrageous behavior did not improve his chances of staying on, they added.

“We all heard about this thing with Marcos and it just solidified our belief that Ezell has to go,” one ranking Justice Department official said. “He’s done some good and we’re all grateful for that. But sometimes, just sometimes, he goes too far. I think we need some new folks in there. “

Ezell said late Thursday he has not been informed that his resignation, routinely submitted two months ago after George Bush became President, would be accepted.

“As far as I know, this guy (Runkel) doesn’t make the decision. It’s up to the White House and the attorney general,” Ezell said in a telephone interview. “If we don’t get to continue, I think we’ve had a big challenge and done terrific accomplishments.”

The timing of Ezell’s departure has not yet been decided, according to Justice Department sources. But it is believed he will be asked to leave when INS Commissioner Alan Nelson is replaced.

Although Nelson has also expressed a strong desire to stay in his post, the White House is considering the Justice Department’s choice of Gene McNary, the top elected public official in St. Louis County, Mo., as the new INS commissioner.

Ezell was the first non-career INS bureaucrat in 20 years to be appointed to the Western regional commissioner’s post when he took over in 1983.

He quickly turned the low-profile job, which oversees all INS operations in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam, into a platform to argue for vigorous enforcement of U.S. immigration laws and more Border Patrol officers to protect the nation’s borders.

His frequent use of news conferences and other public forums enraged opponents who accused Ezell of grandstanding.

For example, when the Los Angeles City Council declared the city a sanctuary for Central American refugees in 1985, Ezell angrily threatened to investigate ways to cut off federal funds to the city and to sue council members.

And when Ezell went to San Diego in 1986 to defend a Border Patrol agent who was accused of wounding a 12-year-old Tijuana boy at the border fence, Mexican activists on both sides of the border branded him a racist.

“I’ve got zero regrets,” Ezell said Thursday when reminded of these episodes. “Since I took this job on, I really don’t think there’s a major flaw to hang our heads about. We’ve gathered a good team of 5,500 people in the (INS) region, and they’ve done a good job.”

Friends and foes credit Ezell with having a major impact on the immigration amnesty program, which extends legal resident status to illegal immigrants who lived in the United States before Jan. 1, 1982.

Nearly 900,000 of the 1.5 million aliens who applied for amnesty came from the Western region--spurred on, in part, by Ezell’s frequent appearances and his singing with Trio Amnestia, who sang Mexican ranchera songs to urge aliens to apply. Donning a sombrero, Ezell seemed to revel in singing in a language he did not know.

“Our accomplishments in the amnesty program was really something,” he said.

Despite his impact on the amnesty program in the West, several leading immigration and Latino activists said they will glad to see Ezell go.

“His grandstanding style of operation and his constant grabbing of headlines did nothing to bring about a better understanding of the immigration problem,” said Peter Schey, executive director of the National Center for Immigrant Rights Inc. in Los Angeles.

Antonio Rodriguez, a lawyer and East Los Angeles immigration activist added: “To keep him would be the worst signal that the Bush Administration could give to our community.”

One longtime critic, however, did have some praise for Ezell. “To the man’s credit, all of these people are adjusting their status because of amnesty and because of him,” said Juan Jose Gutierrez, director of an immigration agency in Boyle Heights. “It was a fairly successful program.”

Ezell said he probably would pursue business opportunities if he did not continue as regional commissioner. He denied reports that he was interested in running for Congress from Orange County.

Staff writer Ronald J. Ostrow contributed to this article from Washington.