Congress confirmed 12 new federal judges and 12 new executive appointments this week and the line-up is looking a lot like ABC’s new schedule—diverse.
Of the big appointments is Sarah Saldana as the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the first Latina to hold the post in history. The 62-year-old is currently the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, based in Dallas and focuses mostly on corruption. She’s now in the middle of a high profile corruption case involving Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, according the the Dallas Morning News.
Nearly all of the GOP banded together to oppose her confirmation. Didn’t work though. It will be interesting to see how Saldana’s appointment plays out with the diet racism bubbling up in America these days and the fierce debates around immigration that loomed in 2014. From a garbage website for garbage people called Vdare:
… given her ethnicity, she will be more concerned about not enforcing immigration law against her co-ethnics who make up the overwhelming number of illegal aliens.
74% of illegal immigrants are Latino. It is clear that besides no experience in immigration law enforcement, Saldaña, presents a conflict of interest in the position.
Cool.
Elsewhere, 37-year-old Indian-American Vivek Murthy was confirmed as the surgeon general, drawing hatred from the NRA and pro-gun Republicans who aren’t into his perspective that public health and gun control are linked. Here’s a tweet, according to the Washington Post, he wrote in 2012 that began the backlash:
“Tired of politicians playing politics w/guns, putting lives at risk b/c they’re scared of NRA. Guns are a health care issue.”
So the NRA called him a “serious threat to the rights of gun owners.” Still, Murthy, the first Indian-American to serve as surgeon general, says obesity will be one of his main issues rather than raiding the gun lobby with stethoscopes.
Image via AP/Justice Department.