Status of Complaint Memorandum: Still Waiting

So far there's been no reply from DHS to my memo.

We called called Janice Jacobs’ office two weeks ago and were told that they hadn't yet processed the memo because all mail arriving in the State Department these days is sent to a subcontracting firm in Maryland for processing and that, therefore, the State Department doesn’t see the mail for about four weeks. This was somewhat surprising since the State Department typically processes and replies to complaints within one week. I myself called three days later and spoke with a one of Janice Jacobs’ aides, who stated that he was aware of my complaint memorandum, and promised that a reply would be provided, although he didn’t specify when.

I was not troubled by this news, and fact it is at least partially heartening, since the memorandum appears to have achieved one of its prime objectives, which was to be “not manageable” by one of the State Department’s canned replies. My view is that DHS is probably stalling while they are trying to figure out what to do. It’s fortuitous that the Obama administration is currently searching for a new ambassador to China to replace Clark Randt, Jr. (who resigned from his post as Ambassador on the first day of the Obama administration). This increases the likelihood that high officials in the Obama administration are aware of the complaints, since they could scarcely be attempting to fill that post without an awareness of the current criticism of the Guangzhou Consulate.

When I receive a reply I will contact the State Department and ask them which part of the reply I might post on the blog. In any event, I’ll post at least the gist of the response on my blog.