Rene Alexander Acosta was born on January 16,1969 and is an American attorney and politician, who served as the 27th United States Secretary of Labor from 2017 to 2019.
28 Facts About Alexander Acosta
2.
President Donald Trump nominated Acosta to be Labor Secretary on, and he was confirmed by the US Senate on.
3.
Alexander Acosta is a former dean of Florida International University College of Law.
4.
Alexander Acosta has twice been named on the '50 most important Hispanics' list by Hispanic Business Magazine.
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Alexander Acosta is a native of Miami, Florida, where he attended the Gulliver Schools.
6.
Alexander Acosta is the first member of his family to graduate from college.
7.
On December 31,2013, Alexander Acosta became the new chairman of US Century Bank, the largest domestically owned Hispanic community bank in Florida and one of the 15 largest Hispanic community banks in the country.
8.
Alexander Acosta was a member of the Board of Trustees of Gulliver Schools, where he served a past term as board chairman.
9.
Alexander Acosta authorized federal intervention in an Oklahoma religious liberties case to help assure the right to wear hijab in public school, and worked with Mississippi authorities to reopen the investigation of the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black youth whose abduction and murder helped spark the civil rights movement.
10.
Alexander Acosta was the first Hispanic to serve as Assistant Attorney General.
11.
In 2005, Alexander Acosta was appointed as the US attorney for Southern District of Florida, where his office successfully prosecuted the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the terrorism suspect Jose Padilla, the founders of the Cali Cartel, and Charles McArther Emmanuel, the son of Liberia's former leader.
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In 2008, US attorney Alexander Acosta approved a federal non-prosecution agreement with Jeffrey Epstein.
13.
Alexander Acosta's handling of the Epstein case was discussed as part of his confirmation hearing.
14.
On November 28,2018, as rumors circulated that Alexander Acosta was being considered as a possible successor to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Miami Herald published an investigation detailing Alexander Acosta's role in the Epstein case.
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Alexander Acosta added that he was hopeful that Acosta would abide by a promise to keep the deal confidential.
16.
Amid criticism of his mishandling of the Epstein case, Alexander Acosta resigned his role as Secretary of Labor effective July 19,2019, after a public outcry.
17.
On July 1,2009, Alexander Acosta became the second dean of Florida International University College of Law.
18.
Alexander Acosta spearheaded the effort to establish the Master of Studies in Law in banking compliance, Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering at FIU Law.
19.
President Donald Trump announced in a press conference on February 16,2017, that he would nominate Alexander Acosta to fill the position of Secretary of Labor after the nomination of Andrew Puzder was withdrawn.
20.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held confirmation hearings on March 22,2017, and Alexander Acosta's nomination was reported out of the committee on March 30,2017.
21.
Alexander Acosta received the support of eight Democratic Senators and all Republican senators except Senator Pat Toomey, who did not participate in the vote.
22.
In 2019, Alexander Acosta proposed cutting the funding of his department's International Labor Affairs Bureau from $68 million in 2018 to under $20 million in 2020.
23.
On June 15,2017, President Trump signed Executive Order 13801, "Presidential Executive Order Expanding Apprenticeships in America," establishing the Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion with Alexander Acosta serving as the chair.
24.
Alexander Acosta announced that the Trump administration maintained a goal of one million new apprentices.
25.
Alexander Acosta resigned as Labor Secretary, effective July 19,2019, following criticism of his role in the Epstein case.
26.
Alexander Acosta has twice been named one of the nation's 50 most influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine.
27.
Alexander Acosta serves or served on the Florida Innocence Commission, on the Florida Supreme Court's Commission on Professionalism, Florida Supreme Court's Access to Justice Commission, and on the Commission for Hispanic Rights and Responsibilities.
28.
In 2008, Alexander Acosta was named as one of the 100 most influential people in business ethics by the Ethisphere Institute.