CA's Alex Padilla To Chair U.S. Immigration Subcommittee

CALIFORNIA — U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California was named chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Immigration Subcommittee on Sunday. He is the first Latino to hold the seat.

The appointment grants Padilla jurisdiction over key immigration issues. The Senator from California said he plans to restore humanity, dignity and respect to the immigration process, according to his statement.

"As the proud son of immigrants from Mexico, I'm honored to be the first Latino to serve as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety," Padilla said Sunday. "While no state has more at stake in immigration policy than California, the entire nation stands to benefit from thoughtful immigration reform."

In this new position, Padilla said he will work to reunify families, fix the asylum system, streamline the process for legal immigration and create pathways to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the nation.

The subcommittee was formerly named "Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration," but Padilla renamed it the "Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Safety."

The subcommittee presides over matters such as citizenship, border safety, refugee laws and oversight of immigration functions in various departments, including the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Padilla, 47, was California's secretary of state until a month ago when he stepped in to fulfill Vice President Kamala Harris' senate seat.

He made a name for himself during his political tenure by boosting voter turnout, authoring a controversial bill to ban single-use plastic bags , and sponsoring legislation to expand voting-by-mail across the state.

Padilla became California's first Latino secretary of state in 2015. Before that, he served in the state Senate representing the Southland's 20th District. He spent more than seven years on the Los Angeles City Council representing the Seventh District in the northeastern San Fernando Valley. He was the council president for five years — the youngest and first Latino to ever hold that post.

He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. Before turning to politics, Padilla worked for Hughes Aircraft.

"It has been my privilege and honor to serve the people of California as Secretary of State for the past six years," Padilla wrote in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom in December. "I am proud of the transformative work we have accomplished in partnership with you, the Legislature, county election officials, voting rights advocates, and community leaders throughout the state to reduce barriers to participation in the electoral process, increase voter registration and participation, and administer safe and secure elections – even during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 22 million registered voters were able to vote in the 2020 Presidential General Election and a record 17.8 million Californians cast their ballot – demonstrating to the nation a proven model of electoral reform and innovation."