Alexander Acosta is in line to become the next Secretary of Labor. If confirmed Acosta will be the first Hispanic in Donald Trump’s cabinet. Acosta is a former assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, where he served during the George W. Bush administration. Created in 1957, the Civil Rights division “enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, disability, religion, familial status and national origin.”
Acosta is currently Dean of the Law School at Florida International University. The FIU College of Law website states it is “proud to be Florida’s only public law school.” A Miami native he attended Harvard for both undergraduate and law school, later clerking for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. As the US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Acosta prosecuted cases against Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff for fraud, against Jose Padilla for terrorism, and against Charles “Chuckie” Taylor Jr. for torture. Acosta also led the District in prosecuting cases involving health care fraud. According to FIU, his office charged more than 700 people accused of defrauding more than $2 billion in health care.
Alexander Acosta
