KEY PLAYERS Nominee for Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement HOMELAND SECURITY DEPARTMENT Michael Garcia
ichael Garcia is no stranger to the war on terrorism. The former federal prosecutor helped convict terrorists involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He successfully prosecuted al Qaeda members for the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in East Africa. And, Garcia was involved in prosecuting Ramzi Ahmed Yousef and two others on charges of planning to plant bombs aboard 12 American passenger airlines in the Far East.
Throughout his career, Garcia has earned a reputation as a relentless prosecutor. When he was appointed acting head of the Immigration and Naturalization Service last November, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Garcia would "lead a tough enforcement of our immigration laws to protect Americans from terrorism and secure our homeland."
Garcia was appointed to the INS post largely to shepherd the agency's transition into the Homeland Security Department, where its responsibilities have been split apart. In his job at the new department, Garcia will oversee nearly 14,000 employees, many of them enforcement and investigative officers from Customs, INS and the Federal Protective Services.
A New York native, Garcia was U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1992 until he joined the Commerce Department in 2001 as assistant secretary for export enforcement.
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