Alexander Acosta

Background

Acosta is the only son of exiles from communist Cuba. He is a native of Miami, Florida, where he attended the Gulliver Schools. He received an A.B. degree in economics from Harvard College in 1990 and graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School 1994.

Following law school, Acosta served as a law clerk to Samuel Alito, then a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, from 1994 to 1995. Acosta then worked at the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, where he specialized in employment and labor issues. While in Washington, Acosta taught classes on employment law, disability-based discrimination law, and civil rights law at the George Mason University School of Law.

On December 31, 2013 Acosta became the new chairman of U.S. Century Bank, the largest domestically owned Hispanic community bank in Florida and one of the 15 largest Hispanic community banks in the nation. He spearheaded the effort to establish the J.M. degree in banking compliance, BSA and anti-money-laundering at FIU Law. Acosta is a member of the Board of Trustees of Gulliver Schools, where he served a past term as board chairman.

Executive Branch service

He served in three presidentially appointed, U.S. Senate-confirmed positions. He was a member of the National Labor Relations Board, appointed by George W. Bush, from 2002 to 2003, where he participated in or authored more than 125 opinions. Following the NLRB, he was Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice on August 22, 2003. He also served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division.

U.S. Attorney for Southern District of Florida

In 2005, Acosta began serving as U.S. Attorney for Southern District of Florida, where his office prosecuted the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the terrorism suspect José Padilla, the founders of the Cali Cartel, and Charles McArther Emmanuel, the son of Liberia’s former leader.

The District also targeted white collar crime, prosecuting several bank-related cases, including one against Swiss bank UBS. The case resulted in UBS paying $780 million in fines, and for the first time in history, the bank provided the United States with the names of individuals who were using secret Swiss bank accounts to avoid U.S. taxes.

Other notable cases during his tenure include the corruption prosecution of Palm Beach County Commission Chairman Tony Masilotti, Palm Beach County Commissioner Warren Newell, and Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne; the conviction of Cali Cartel founders Miguel and Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, for the importation of 200,000 kilos of cocaine, which resulted in a $2.1 billion forfeiture; and the white-collar crime prosecutions of executives connected to Hamilton Bank.

Acosta also emphasized health-care fraud prosecutions. Under Acosta’s leadership, the District also focused on health care fraud and because the top district in the nation in health care fraud prosecution, charged more than 700 individuals responsible for more than $2 billion in fraud.

Dean of the Florida International University College of Law

On July 1, 2009, Acosta became the second dean of Florida International University College of Law. During Acosta’s tenure FIU Law has risen to #100 in the U.S. News and World Report Rankings, improved its student to faculty ratio from 16.2 to 1, to 12.8 to 1, and reduced its class size by 40%.

Secretary of Labor nomination

After the nomination of Andrew Puzder to United States Secretary of Labor was withdrawn, President Donald Trump nominated Acosta to fill the position and announced this in a press conference on February 16, 2017.

Awards and recognition

Acosta has twice been named one of the nation’s 50 most influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine. He serves on the Florida Innocence Commission, on the Florida Supreme Court’s Commission on Professionalism, and on the Commission for Hispanic Rights and Responsibilities.