President Biden has just nominated Julie Su, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, for Secretary of the Department of Labor. Her nomination comes as Marty Walsh announced his plans to resign and leave the administration in March. If Su is confirmed, she would become the first Asian American in Biden’s administration to serve at the secretary rank.

Su is currently the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Labor and has been in that role since July 17, 2021. Prior to joining the Biden administration, Su served as head of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency.

In a press release, President Biden said, “It is my honor to nominate Julie Su to be our country’s next Secretary of Labor. Julie has spent her life fighting to make sure that everyone has a fair shot, that no community is overlooked, and that no worker is left behind. Over several decades, Julie has led the largest state labor department in the nation, cracked down on wage theft, fought to protect trafficked workers, increased the minimum wage, created good-paying, high-quality jobs, and established and enforced workplace safety standards.

Julie is a champion for workers, and she has been a critical partner to Secretary Walsh since the early days of my Administration. She helped avert a national rail shutdown, improved access to good jobs free from discrimination through my Good Jobs Initiative, and is ensuring that the jobs we create in critical sectors like semiconductor manufacturing, broadband and healthcare are good-paying, stable and accessible jobs for all.”

After President Biden delivered remarks at the White House, Su accepted her nomination and said, “Sixty years ago, my mom came to the United States on a cargo ticket because she couldn’t afford a passenger ticket. Recently, she got a call from the United States telling her that her daughter was going to be nominated to be U.S. Labor Secretary.” 

In 1995, before Su joined the government, she notably served as the lead attorney on behalf of a group of Thai seamstresses who were brought to the United States illegally, held captive, and forced to sew garments 16 hours a day, seven days a week in an El Monte, California sweatshop. After being freed from captivity, the Thai workers were issued visas and a path to U.S. citizenship.