President Joe Biden has nominated two Texans for positions in his administration.
If confirmed, Harris County sheriff Ed Gonzales would lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Gonzalez is an outspoken critic of the former administration's hard line policies, particularly the wall. Rice University political scientist Bob Stein doesn't think Republicans will go too hard on him in confirmation hearings. The senate is divided evenly with Vice President Harris holding the tie-breaking vote.
"He wasn't like an Art Acevedo (former Houston police chief) who really used social media to go after president Trump, particularly on the border wall."
He says Gonzalez has a long career in law enforcement but ICE is much more than law enforcement. "I'll go so far as to say one of the strong suits for someone like Ed Gonzalez is he has both the policing and administrative experience tempered by the simple world of politics. These are not just policy decisions, best practices good law enforcement. They are political and you're always under scrutiny."
He says ICE deals with children. "When they're on TV, they're anybody's child. We may look at them as intruders but at the end of the day it's a political choice. Ed has the stamina to put up with a very difficult job. Previous ICE directors have constantly come under criticism."
Stein notes Gonzalez is Hispanic and comes from the third largest county in the nation with one of the largest Hispanic populations, where this issue is of great importance.'
Biden has also nominated former West Texas congressional candidate and Air Force Veteran Gina Ortiz Jones to serve as undersecretary of the Air Force. Ortiz Jones is openly gay, and Jennifer Dane, executive director of the Modern Military Association of America says she's thrilled by the nomination. She says Ortiz Jones served under Don't Ask, Don't Tell, when gay people were routinely booted out of the service. "We're ten years out from the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and we still know that about 114 thousand members of the military, the veteran community still don't have access to benefits they deserve."
Dane says "for me, just having representation as a service member and a veteran and a lesbian, it means people like me can be in those positions."
Ortiz Jones twice ran for congress in the sprawling 23rd congressional district, which runs from her Native San Antonio to El Paso.
If confirmed, Ortiz Jones would be the second openly gay person to serve as undersecretary of the Air Force
