Scoop: Biden weighs Ken Salazar for ambassador to Mexico
Joe Biden and Ken Salazar embrace at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
The Biden administration is vetting Ken Salazar, a former senator and Interior secretary, to serve as U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: President Biden is close to publicly naming a slate of ambassadors. In considering a former Senate colleague for Mexico City, he s acknowledging the crisis on the border will require both diplomatic and political skills to solve.
Driving the news: Biden has started to call some of his potential ambassadors to offer them foreign postings, people familiar with the matter say.
Cesar Chavez, in a way, is looking over President Joe Biden’s shoulder
Bust of Latino icon in the Oval Office behind the Resolute Desk
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Flores said, “I took a closer look and I said, ‘My goodness, that’s Cesar Chavez!’”
The late Cesar Chavez is the Latino icon who helped organize farmworkers and co-founded the United Farmworkers, along with Dolores Huerta, who coined the phrase, “Si Se Puede.”
Chavez was posthumously presented the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, by President Clinton. Huerta also was honored by President Obama with the Medal of Freedom.
Flores said the bust of Cesar Chavez was among President Joe Biden’s cherished family photos as he signed more than a dozen executive orders on Thursday. Some were actions taken by President Trump targeting immigrants.
ICE Arrests 117 Illegal Immigrants Who Failed to Self-Deport
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Dec. 21 that, over a 10-day period in December, agents arrested 117 illegal aliens who vowed to leave the country voluntarily but failed to do so.
The agency said in a statement that the detained aliens had promised to leave on their own accord rather than face a formal deportation, but never did. The enforcement effort, called “Operation Broken Promise,” found that of the more than 150 individuals in total who were arrested between Dec. 7 and Dec. 17 and are now slated for deportation, 71 percent had criminal convictions or pending charges.