Report Blasts Immigration Halloween Party

April 8, 2008— -- The Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee offered a scathing report Tuesday on the now-infamous Halloween party at Immigration and Customs Enforcement last fall that stirred controversy over race issues at the agency.

The report, entitled "The ICE Halloween Party: Trick, Treat or Coverup?" details how ICE chief Julie Myers was a judge at an employee costume party in which the winning contestant for "most original costume" appeared in a striped prison uniform, wearing a dreadlock wig, and his face darkened with makeup.

The report stopped short of asking for Myers' resignation, but issued several recommendations.

Democrats on the panel urged the Department of Homeland Security to conduct a full investigation into the alleged coverup, and said an independent official should be tasked with evaluating the situation to determine which, if any, laws were violated.

Additionally, the majority called for further evaluation of the employee's actions and whether the incident crated a hostile work environment.

According to the report, when the male employee walked up to the judges' table, where Myers sat, "he stated, 'I'm a Jamaican detainee from [Miami detention facility] Krome, obviously, I've escaped.' The response from the judges was laughter.

"According to interviews with employees who attended the party, several employees were shocked and offended by the costume and some even left immediately after seeing their fellow employee in the costume," the report continued.

Myers admitted in a Nov. 2007 letter to Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., that after she realized her error in judgment, she ordered all photos of the event be destroyed and employees to attend sensitivity training. She also issued a public apology for the incident, and the employee who wore the costume was reassigned from headquarters to a field office one week after the party.

A CNN freedom of information request sought to have the agency produce the photos, and technical staff at ICE were able to recover them from the digital media from which they had been deleted. CNN published the photos, launching the congressional inquiry.