Barack Obama: Harvard Law School

Thomas Perez Dept: In choosing Perez, the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Obama would be placing an already high-ranking Hispanic official in a Cabinet slot. Perez, a lawyer with a degree from Harvard Law School, would replace Hilda Solis, the first Hispanic-American labour secretary, according to Vancouver Sun. Before taking the job as assistant attorney general, Perez was secretary of Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, which enforces state consumer rights, workplace safety and wage and hour laws and WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is set to nominate Thomas Perez, an assistant attorney general, to be the next secretary of labour, the White House says. If confirmed by the Senate, Perez, who has been head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division for 3 1/2 years, would take over the Labor Department as Obama undertakes several worker-oriented initiatives, including an overhaul of immigration laws and an increase in the minimum wage. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.