Report: Thomas Saenz to Head DOJ Civil Rights Division

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog ^ | February 24, 2009 | Ashby Jones

[RightWingConspirator]

This just in: The Los Angeles Daily Journal is reporting that President Obama has tapped Thomas Saenz to head the civil rights division at the Department of Justice.

Saenz, 42, the former vice president of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Los Angeles, is currently serving as counsel to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

...

Civil rights attorneys and academics in southern California praised the choice. “I don’t think the president or attorney general could make a better selection,” said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the ACLU of Southern California. “He’s a throwback to the great civil rights attorney pioneers, like Thurgood Marshall.”

Rosenbaum praised Saenz’s work challenging the legality of voter measures, ranging from Proposition 187, the ballot initiative that sought to cut off social and education services to undocumented immigrants, to his work on the University of Michigan case challenging the legality of affirmative action in admissions.

[RightWingConspirator]

Just what is needed, someone to really stir up racial strife.

[txnativegop]

Do you think I will get any points with this guy because two of nephews are Hispanic, even though I’m white? Doubtful, doesn’t fit the template.

[Regulator]

Don't worry. Saenz is white too. His ancestors are from Spain.

Isn't this hilarious? This guy is a Conquistador. He plans to avenge his ancestors failure to hold their land by suing the winners of the war....to overturn their victory.

Soon we'll see a Federal Judge declaring that it's a "civil right" for the Mexican Army to occupy the U.S. After all, to resist would be racist, right?

According to Saenz it would be.

[raybbr]

Fist bumping with Villagarosa and sucking up to the peasants.

[Don Corleone]

Civil rights attorneys and academics in southern California praised the choice

That in itself is enough to taint it.

[La Lydia]

Oh no, there's more, and it gets better: Obama has named Esther Olavarria as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at ICE. "Esther Olavarria brings nearly 20 years of experience...Most recently, she was Director of Immigration Policy at the Center for American Progress, where she was responsible for planning and administering the organization’s work on immigration issues, with a principal focus on policy and advocacy strategies on comprehensive immigration reform; Prior to that, for nearly 10 years, she was Counsel to Sen. Edward Kennedy and the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Refugees. In that capacity, she served as Senator Kennedy’s chief counsel on immigration...She has also served as the Managing Attorney of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Directing Attorney of the American Immigration Lawyers Association Pro Bono Project, and staff attorney at the Haitian Refugee Center, all based in Miami, Florida."