Thomas Perez: October 2011

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Thomas Perez: October 2011

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DOJ Official: Holder 'Firmly Committed' To Eliminating Anti-Muslim Training

Ryan J. Reilly | October 19, 2011, 2:50PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Attorney General Eric Holder is "firmly committed" to nixing anti-Muslim material from law enforcement training, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, Dwight C. Holton said Wednesday.

Holton, who was U.S. Attorney when the FBI arrested the so-called Christmas tree bomber, said that he spoke specifically with Holder about the "egregiously false" training that took place at the FBI's training headquarters at Quantico and at a U.S. Attorney's office in Pennsylvania, which was first reported on by Wired.

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Topics: Eric Holder, FBI, Islam, Islamic Terrorism, Islamophobia, Justice Department, Muslim-Americans, Muslims, Thomas Perez

Thomas Perez

DOJ Official Worried About 'Vigilante Enforcement' Of Alabama's Harsh Immigration Law

Ryan J. Reilly | October 14, 2011, 12:10PM

Update, Oct. 14, 2:27PM: An appeals court has blocked certain provisions of the law.

It's "very clear" that Alabama's new anti-illegal immigration law is keeping children who are U.S. citizens out of school because their parents are scared about its impact, Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez told reporters Friday.

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Joyce Vance also said that federal officials were "hearing some concerns about vigilante enforcement of the law by private citizens."

"I don't want to overstate, we have heard folks expressing concern that this will take place" but haven't heard any actual reports of such incidents, Vance said. "I never like to be behind crime, I'd like to be in front of it."

"We always maintain awareness and alertness of potential hate crimes, so you know when we say 'vigilanteism' that really means the same thing as the traditional work that we do ensuring that the hate crimes laws in this country are fully enforced," Vance said.

Perez said that they were reviewing some "very troubling data" from schools regarding absentee and dropout data since the law went into effect. He also said there were getting reports of increases in bullying in the wake of the law.

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Topics: Alabama, DOJ, DOJ Civil Rights Division, Immigration, Justice Department, Obama Administration, Thomas Perez

Thomas Perez

Obama Administration Dispatches DOJ Official To Alabama To Discuss Impact Of Immigration Law

Ryan J. Reilly | October 13, 2011, 3:00PM

Justice Department official Thomas Perez will travel to Alabama this week to call attention to the impact that Alabama's strict immigration law will have on schoolchildren in the state.

Perez, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Civil Rights Division, will join U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Joyce Vance in meeting with "community leaders, civil rights organizations and families" in Birmingham, according to DOJ.

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Topics: Alabama, Thomas Perez

Barack Obama

What The Justice Department Can Actually Do About Voter ID Laws

Ryan J. Reilly | October 5, 2011, 5:45AM

President Barack Obama last week told a radio audience that he's made sure the Justice Department is reviewing restrictive voting laws passed across the country. But as a practical matter, DOJ's reach is limited.

Sure, federal officials with DOJ's Civil Rights Division are reviewing voter ID laws passed in South Carolina and Texas because both states have a history of discrimination and are covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. DOJ told South Carolina in August that they need more info before making a decision and in September told Texas they have more questions.