Alejandro Mayorkas Tapped by Biden for DHS Secretary

By David North on November 23, 2020

Alejandro Mayorkas, a native of Cuba and former Deputy Secretary of the agency, has been selected by President-elect Joe Biden to be the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, this being the second cabinet pick to be made by Biden. (He previously named Antony Blinken to be Secretary of State.)

CIS had speculated about five possible appointees to this position a few days ago and stated that Mayorkas would be the most likely of the quintet; see that posting for more on Mayorkas, who had been Director of U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS) prior to his promotion to Deputy Secretary in the Obama administration. In 2015, the DHS Inspector General's office issued a report on allegations that Mayorkas "was exerting improper influence in the normal processing and adjudication of applications and petitions" in the EB-5 immigrant-investor program.

Mayorkas, who came to the U.S. at about the age of one, will, if confirmed, be the first foreign-born head of DHS. His policies, in his earlier posts, were generally favorable to more migration.