Laredo judge likely to fill McAllen's newest federal judicial post

McAllen Monitor 8/2/09
Laredo judge likely to fill McAllen's newest federal judicial post
Transfer would be a homecoming for Donna native Alvarez

McALLEN — A familiar face is almost certain to fill the Rio Grande Valley’s newest federal judicial post, according to sources close to the selection process.

U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez — a Donna native currently based in Laredo — has received approval from her colleagues in the South Texas judicial district to move her bench to McAllen, filling a vacancy that opened last month.

The transfer would create an open position in Laredo and cut short weeks of speculation on which local legal luminaries might seek elevation to the federal level.

"It’s a done deal," said one Hidalgo County attorney familiar with the process. "She’s a local girl, and she wants to come home."

Alvarez’s move would leave McAllen’s federal judiciary with three Republican appointees and dash the hopes of local Democrats who had hoped that the left-leaning Valley might welcome its first appointee selected by their party since President Bill Clinton tapped Judge Hilda Tagle to preside over her Brownsville court in 1998.