In The Community
Meet the Latinos Who Could Be the Members of Biden’s Cabinet
Some new cabinet appointments, like lawyer Alejandro Mayorkas and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, have already been named, while others are still being considered for posts throughout the Cabinet.
As president, Biden will have to pick leaders for 15 federal departments, including Justice, Homeland Security, Education, Labor, State, and more. After November 3, the president-elect usually begins the process of selection, hoping to assemble the Cabinet before the inauguration so that the Senate can confirm the appointments upon the start of the presidential term. Biden, who pledged to unite a divided country during his campaign, is expected to build a coalition that includes a mix of progressives, moderates as well as Republicans.
So far, the former vice president has chosen possible Cabinet members who are diverse across gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity. Among Biden’s groundbreaking cabinet appointments are Mayorkas, the first immigrant to lead the Department of Homeland Security; Becerra, the first Latino to be secretary of Health and Human Services; Janet Yellen, the first woman to be secretary of the Treasury; Lloyd Austin, the first African American to be secretary of Defense; Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay man to be Secretary of Transportation; and Neera Tanden, the first South Asian woman to lead the Office of Management and Budget.
FiveThirtyEight reports that considering cultural identity is normal in the presidential transition and appointment process, particularly for Democrats, which is a more racially diverse party than the GOP, and especially for Biden, who owes his Election Day win to voters of color. According to exit polls, 66% of Latinxs voted for Biden. Even in states where Trump won, like Florida, a larger percentage of Latinxs voted for Biden.
Since Biden’s November victory, multiple Latinx groups have been advocating for Latinx Cabinet appointees. The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a coalition of 42 Latinx groups, including UnidosUS and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), has been pushing the president-elect to appoint at least five Latinxs to Cabinet-level posts. Meanwhile, the Alliance for Latinx Leadership and Policy has provided the Biden transition team with names of established Latinx politicos and professionals to consider for Cabinet positions. While some experienced Latinas had been suggested and considered, including Lily Eskelsen García for secretary of education and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for the Department of Health and Human Services, at the time of writing, no Latinas have been nominated.
Here are the Latinx cabinet members who Biden has already appointed and others the president-elect is still considering to lead federal departments.
Alejandro Mayorkas
On November 23, Biden nominated Mayorkas for Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The third-largest federal department, the DHS includes 187 federal agencies and departments, like U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the National Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and more. If confirmed by the Senate, the Cuba-born, Los Angeles-raised attorney wouldn’t be new to the department. During the Obama administration, Mayorkas served in the DHS, first as the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and then as Deputy Secretary. The 61-year-old would be the first immigrant and Latinx person to lead the department. However, he might face some resistance among Republicans in the Senate, especially for his role in heading up the implementation of President Barack Obama’s contentious Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Xavier Becerra
This month, the president-elect named California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. If confirmed by the Senate, the Mexican-American would be the first Latinx person to run the department. He’d also be leading amid a surging coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 300,000 people in the United States. Becerra, who was also being considered for Attorney General, has spent much of his time in his current post in California heading legal efforts on health care, including leading a campaign to protect the Affordable Care Act and fighting for women’s health.
Miguel Cardona
This week, Biden’s transition team announced Miguel Cardona, Connecticut’s commissioner of education, as the president-elect’s nominee for secretary of education. Should he be confirmed by the Senate, Cardona, a former elementary school teacher and principal, will have a critical task ahead of him: getting children back to school safely. With a background in bilingual and bicultural education, as well as a commitment to bridge gaps between English-language learners and their classmates, the Puerto Rican nominee could also help materialize Biden’s vision to improve access to college for low-income individuals, students of color, and undocumented youth.
Tom Perez
The president-elect still needs to name nominees for Attorney General and Secretary of Labor, and Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez is being considered for both. The New York-born politician and lawyer has the experience needed for each department. Under the Obama administration, the 59-year-old Dominican-American served as assistant attorney general for civil rights and later as the Secretary of Labor. If nominated, however, Perez might find some opposition from the Senate GOP.
After a contentious U.S. presidential election, voters sent a message that they no longer welcomed President Donald Trump in the White House. With an estimated 71% of Latina support, former Vice President Joe Biden will become the country’s 46th president. His running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, will become the first woman, Black woman, and Indian-American woman to serve as vice president of the United States. Despite the spread of conspiracy theories, voter suppression, and decades of being ignored, Latino voters proved to be the deciding factor including turning Arizona blue.
I\u2019ve been telling people this the whole year. In Arizona we\u2019ve been fighting racists and mobilizing against white supremacy for the past 10+ years. It\u2019s not a swing state because of chance. We\u2019ve been working our asses off and it\u2019s paying off. https://twitter.com/leedsgarcia/status/1323361590373097472\u00a0\u2026— Erika Andiola (@Erika Andiola) 1604377441
“Trump’s presidency has been defined by racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and lawlessness, and Latinas have borne the brunt of the pain,” Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy told Luz Collective. “From beginning his campaign by demeaning Mexicans to his disastrous handling of the Covid-19 crisis, which disproportionately affected Latinas and our families, the last four years under Trump have wreaked havoc on our communities.”
Biden will have a lot of work to do to repair the harm that the Trump administration has caused across the country, including in the Latinx community. Recently, Latinas marked Latina Equal Pay Day on October 29, bringing visibility to statistics that show Latinas, on average, earn just 55 cents to every dollar a white man earns. Electing Biden, who has promised to help close the gender pay gap for Latinas, and all women, is just one step toward better economic opportunities for Latinas. Holding him and Congress accountable to the promises made is the second step. Here are three ways that the Biden administration could financially uplift Latinas:
Passage of the HEROES Act Bill
Latinxs are disproportionately affected by job loss and housing insecurity in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. This includes many Latina business owners who have been challenged in accessing programs, such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. An UnidosUS report found that “the threat of depleting one’s savings in order to avoid eviction is exacerbated by barriers that have kept some workers from accessing unemployment insurance or governmental economic stimulus.” On the campaign trail, Biden supported the HEROEs Act, which the Democratic-led House of Representatives passed more than three months ago. If progressed by the Senate, where it has been stalled, Biden would surely sign the bill into law. The stimulus package would allocate $175 billion in rent and mortgage assistance as well as provide resources to navigate the PPP programs and housing counseling services – all of which could positively impact Latinas, including some undocumented immigrants, who weren’t eligible to receive aid through the CARES Act back in March.
Protection for Latina Domestic Workers
The Biden administration plans to enact legislation that would mirror the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, a handful of policies that would extend federal labor protections to domestic workers. Domestic workers, many of them Latinas, are vulnerable to wage theft and sexual assault. The Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights would include guaranteed paid time off and other protections that stand to benefit Latinas.
Latina domestic workers like Antonia care for our homes and families. The pandemic has shown us how essential their work is. It\u2019s time to value their work by ending the Latina Pay Gap and including them in pandemic relief! #LatinaEqualPaypic.twitter.com/87VdKVwdUO— Domestic Workers (@Domestic Workers) 1603998060
Overtime Payment and Minimum Wage
With the Biden administration also comes an opportunity to address the economic concerns of Latinas who earn low wages. Specifically, Biden promises to undo Trump’s overtime payment policies, which currently keeps 1.3 million Latinx workers from earning the overtime pay they deserve. Additionally, Biden promises to increase the minimum wage, which would help millions of Latinas who are overrepresented in low-wage jobs.
