MPI Welcomes the Selection of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as DHS Secretary

WASHINGTON – Today President-elect Barack Obama announced his selection of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security. Following are statements from the Migration Policy Institute’s President and the two Senior Fellows who served as Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service:

MPI President Demetrios Papademetriou:
“Janet Napolitano’s experience as a border-state governor deeply involved in immigration matters will be exceptionally relevant in her new role as Homeland Security secretary. This is one of the most challenging positions in the federal government because of the department’s many and complex missions and the Homeland Security secretary’s need to negotiate a large number of politically sensitive issues. Governor Napolitano appears to have honed many of the management and negotiating skills essential to performing the job effectively.”

MPI Senior Fellow Doris Meissner, who heads MPI’s U.S. Immigration Policy Program and served as INS Commissioner during the Clinton administration:
“Governor Napolitano will be the first Homeland Security secretary who comes to the job with a strong, nuanced knowledge of immigration policy. She also brings an understanding that immigration is the federal government’s responsibility. She has the credentials and experience to provide sound leadership and fill the policy vacuum left by Washington’s inaction on immigration in recent years.”

MPI Senior Fellow James W. Ziglar, who served as INS Commissioner during the Bush administration until the agency’s functions were absorbed into the new Department of Homeland Security:
“The Department of Homeland Security is a multi-faceted organization that requires someone with a broad base of management and policy experience to deal with its diverse challenges – and Governor Napolitano has that experience. Her track record as a bipartisan, pragmatic leader will hold her in good stead on Capitol Hill, with Democratic and Republican governors, and at the Department of Homeland Security.”