The appointments of Alejandro Mayorkas, as Secretary of Homeland Security; Xavier Becerra, as Secretary of Health, and Miguel Cardona, as Secretary of Education of the United States, show that the President-elect Joe Biden It will meet the representation of at least 20% of people of Latino descent in its administration, reflecting the importance of the Spanish voice in the country.
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During his campaign, Biden assured that Latinos represent nearly 20% of the population in the United States and South Americaabout the “future” of the country, and found it “ridiculous” to continue with President Donald Trump’s policies.
“I’m not trying to be diligent, I’m not trying to be nice, you are the future of the country. I really mean it, they really are, ”Biden said in a speech when he was a Democratic candidate at an event with leaders of the Hispanic community in Las Vegas, Nevada.
From then on, Biden called for an end to the cycle of Latinos being forgotten in good times, and in bad times the first to top the list of problems and, worse, the last to be addressed.
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Latinos make up 18% of the total population of the United States and nine out of ten Latinos under the age of 18 were born in the North American country, so the new administration is expected to show its interest in this population after the Trump administration has tightened immigration policy of the country, which is home to an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants.
Migrants in the United States
Against this backdrop, the recent Latino appointments to Biden’s new administration have been the prelude to some of the survivors, who are expected to consolidate a diverse cabinet that also emerged from other minorities, such as African Americans, people from the LGBTIQ + community, indigenous peoples and a good number of women.
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Biden hopes these appointments will enable him to deliver on many of his campaign promises around Latinos and migrants in general, such as improved access to health and education, economic support and access to employment, as well as the ambitious goal of defeating the immigration system.
The first Latino selected to take charge of the US Department of Homeland Security is Alejandro Mayorkas, who arrived in the country after their flight from Cuba and who, according to Biden, will have “one of the most difficult jobs in government”.
“The DHS secretary must protect us against threats at home and abroad, and your work plays a vital role in repairing our broken immigration system, ”said Biden, who introduced Mayorkas.
Cuban-American Alejandro Mayorkas was chosen to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Exactly, Mayorkas nomination promises a 180-degree turnaround in U.S. immigration policy that strives not only for the regularization of undocumented migrants, but also for temporarily suspend deportations and increase the quota for refugees.
At just one year old, Mayorkas emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1960 after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. As a professional, he became the youngest federal prosecutor in the country in 1988, leading several corruption, money laundering and drug trafficking trials.
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Mayorkas was nominated in 2009 by then-President Barack Obama to lead the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, from where support for
the Dhaka Immigrant Rights Program, who issued work permits and protection from deportation to more than 700,000 young people who entered as children without papers.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was nominated as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
On the other hand, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was nominated by President-elect Biden as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
In his 12 terms as a Los Angeles Representative in Congress, Becerra was a prominent advocate for Latino rights and a strong supporter of the the health program of former president Barack Obama, a policy that is heavily attacked by Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
Becerra, 62, was elected attorney general in California in 2016, a position in which he held the vice president-elect Kamala Harris after she entered the senate.
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Born in Sacramento, California, but of Mexican descent, he was the first Latino to hold that position. During his tenure, he also defended the If before the Supreme Court.
According to the newspaper The New York TimesBecerra’s election came after the Hispanic Caucus made complaints in Congress about the lack of Latinos in the new administration.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
The most recent announcement, reported by the US media on Tuesday, was the appointment of Miguel Cardona to the Education portfolio.
The appointment of this former public school teacher and current supervisor of all educational centers in the state of Connecticut would also fulfill Biden’s pledge to elect a professor as secretary of this department.
Born in Connecticut to Puerto Rican parents, Cardona has served as that state’s Secretary of Education since 2019, a position from which he had to oversee the distance learning of thousands of students due to the covid-19 pandemic, not an easy task.
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When the schools closed their doors, Cardona rushed to deliver 100,000 laptops to students in his state to make sure they could keep up.
Cardona was a public school teacher in Meriden, Connecticut, where he grew up, and thereafter served as director of education for that district for ten years, from which he led education for 9,000 students and earned him Best Director of the Year in 2012.
Some current appointments
Of the departments still to be selected, Justice is the highest level, a position Biden’s office may not appoint for Christmas, a source familiar with the internal debate in the transitional government told CNN on Tuesday.
Members of the Biden work team also include several Latinos with experience in previous administrations, such as Anthony Bernal, Julissa Reynoso, and Julie Chávez Rodríguez.
Chávez, granddaughter of civil rights leader César Chávez, becomes director of the White House Office for Intergovernmental Affairs. Reynoso and Bernal, for their part, will work for the future first lady, Jill Biden.
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In addition, Alex Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants, was appointed to replace elected Vice President Kamala Harris in the United States Senate on Tuesday.
United, always the first Latino to represent California in the country’s upper house.
In a statement, Padilla pledged to “work every day to honor that trust and meet all Californians.” “We come out of this pandemic together and we will rebuild our economy in a way that will not leave working families behind, ”he added.
Padilla, who oversaw the California postal ballot in the November presidential election, was considered a favorite for the job, with strong support from Latino groups.
INTERNATIONAL SETUP
* With information from AFP
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