Controversy over Obama’s civil rights pick

President Barack Obama’s choice to head a key Justice Department (DOJ) post may be Latino yet some Latino activists are disappointed with his pick.

Maryland labor secretary Thomas Perez is the state’s highest-ranking Latino politico and was recently named as chief of the DOJ's civil rights division. Yet backers of Thomas Saenz- counsel to Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa- believe that he was unfairly overlooked due to his strong work for immigrants’ rights:

Conservatives have criticized Saenz’s work, according to the Daily Journal and the Los Angeles Times. An editorial in Investor's Business Daily called him "a man who has dedicated his life to promoting illegal immigrant 'rights.' "

Law professor Maria Blanco of UC Berkeley told the Daily Journal that she has learned the White House had offered the position to Saenz but withdrew it because of expected opposition by anti-immigrant groups. Blanco was a member of the presidential transition team for Barack Obama and is executive director of UC Berkeley’s Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity & Diversity.

The National Council of La Raza has issued a statement expressing "profound disappointment" that Saenz didn’t get the job.

Saenz’ backers have refrained from critiquing Perez’ numerous qualifications. Yet as the Los Angeles Times noted, Perez “appears to have little if any public record on hot-button immigration issues". Some politicos are even worried that picking Perez signals a low priority by the White House towards immigration reform.

On the other hand, supporters of Saenz may be overreacting and overlooking Perez’ potential. As the LA Daily blog observed, perhaps Obama decided that the “ potentially volatile mix of California identity politics with the potential revival of acrimony over immigration reform was not worth spending political capital now needed elsewhere.”

Image- Baltimore Sun (“Maryland Labor Secretary Tom Perez has been selected by the Obama administration to head the Justice Department's civil rights division”).
Online Sources- Los Angeles Times, LA Daily, ABA Journal