President Obama nominates U.S. Attorney Sarah Saldana as next Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director

By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.

United States President Barack Obama has nominated U.S. Attorney Sarah Saldana,62, of Dallas, Texas as the next Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director (ICE). Saldana is currently the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, a post she has held for three years, and is the first Latina to be a U.S. Attorney in Texas.

Saldana’s nomination is subject to a majority vote approval or confirmation by the United States Senate. If confirmed, Saldana would become the first Latina to head the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and top enforcer.

President Obama has stated that if Congress fails to act in providing comprehensive immigration reform in the United States, he will issue Executive Orders concerning the U.S. Immigration System. Republican Senators Marco Rubio (Florida) and Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) have threatened to force another federal government shutdown if President Obama issues Executive Orders reforming the U.S. Immigration System.
Last year’s Republican shutdown of the federal government cost the U.S. economy over $24 Billion and thousands of Americans lost their jobs or suffered significant financial loss of income.

Saldana has a stellar reputation as a federal prosecutor in the Northern District of Texas in Dallas. Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, both Republicans, have not indicated if they would vote in favor of Saldana becoming the next ICE Director.

Saldana graduated summa cum laude from Texas A & I University (now Texas A & M University-Kingsville) and received her law degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas.