Ezell Hints at a Run for Office After He Steps Down as Immigration Service Head

Harold W. Ezell, the top federal immigration official in the West, said Thursday that he would like to remain in his current post at least until November, 1990, and may seek elective office after that.

Ezell, the western regional commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said: “I’ve expressed interest in finishing Phase Two of the amnesty program, which concludes in November, 1990. . . . If I get the opportunity--great. If not it’s been a good experience.” Ezell said he expects to learn within 90 days--after a new permanent INS commissioner takes over in Washington--whether he and the other three regional commissioners will be reappointed.

In May, a spokesman for Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh described Ezell as a “short-termer” likely to be replaced soon. The INS is part of the Department of Justice.

Ezell, a former fast-food executive, was appointed the western commissioner by President Reagan in 1983. He was the first non-career INS bureaucrat in 20 years chosen for the post.

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 immigration laws and more Border Patrol officers.

Ezell has displayed a knack for controversy and public attention during his tenure. Some of his public statements about the nation’s immigration problems have prompted some Latino activists to demand his ouster.

In 1985, for example, Ezell said: “We’re being invaded. . . . It’s not going to be the same America in five years if we don’t do something about the immigration problem.”

Yet friends and foes credit Ezell with having a major impact on the immigration amnesty program. 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 energetic publicity campaign to encourage people in the United States illegally to apply for amnesty.

Whether or not he remains in the INS position, Ezell said he plans to remain active in public life.

“I think I’ll stay in public life in some way,” said Ezell, 52. “I will keep my options open. I enjoy public life. It is difficult sometimes, but the rewards are there.”

Asked Thursday whether he anticipates running for elective office, he replied, “I wouldn’t say no.”