The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved Alejandro Mayorkas as the nominee for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, sending his nomination to the Senate floor.
The committee voted 7-4 on Tuesday in favor of Mayorkas, who worked at DHS for two terms during former President Barack Obama’s administration.
Republicans Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Rob Portman of Ohio voted broke with their party and voted in support of Mayorkas. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who chaired the committee for six years until Tuesday, voted against Mayorkas over “issues” regarding a DHS inspector general report on Mayorkas’s behavior toward employees and the appearance of favorable treatment to Democratic politicians.
“You had some real serious issues here that simply can’t be ignored,” said Johnson. “I’ve only had a good working relationship with Mr. Mayorkas as deputy secretary of DHS and hope to work with him in good faith, if he is confirmed as secretary. I simply cannot support his nomination. I would urge members not to as well.”
Portman said he would break with the party but had “concern” about the nominee’s “integrity lapses.” Romney said he spoke with Mayorkas in a private setting after the confirmation hearing last week and was comfortable supporting Mayorkas as a result of their conversation.
“We’re going to vote for you, but we’re also going to be watching,” said Portman. “We’re going to be sure that you keep the commitment you made to us in a committee hearing to learn from the mistakes that were made, and pointed out in the report, and to become a better leader.”
Biden’s transition team announced in late November that it would nominate Mayorkas, who worked at DHS for eight years during the Obama administration. Mayorkas was described by a former DHS official in November as a “centrist,” but compared to the Trump White House’s immigration policies, Mayorkas’s strategies involve less aggressive enforcement of immigration laws.
Mayorkas, 61, was the deputy secretary of the DHS from 2013 to 2016 and led DHS agency U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2009 to 2013. The Senate unanimously confirmed him to his USCIS post in 2009, an indication that he may be a shoo-in for the position after the Trump administration struggled for four years to keep a confirmed official atop the department. DHS has not had a Senate-confirmed leader since early 2019.
Mayorkas is a Cuban immigrant who was brought to the United States by his parents as a baby. His family arrived as refugees. He oversaw the creation and implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, an executive action that permits illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to apply for a reprieve from deportation and for the ability to work in the country.
While at DHS, the DHS Office of Inspector General accused Mayorkas of creating the appearance of “favoritism and special access” by ordering staff to fast-track visa applications that benefited Democratic sponsors, including former Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia, and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s brother, Anthony. He stepped down from his post in October 2016, months shy of Obama’s departure.
Mayorkas reformed DHS agency U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, changing how it is structured and prioritizing fraud detection among visa and green card applicants. He created the agency’s Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate to ensure applicants were properly vetted and not bestowed visas or work documents that they were not entitled to. The focus on fraud has also been a leading priority among Trump appointees at USCIS, who launched numerous efforts to protect Americans by implementing policies to mitigate fraud.
He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a bachelor’s degree and earned his law degree from Loyola Law School. He worked three decades in the government, starting at the Department of Justice as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Central District of California and then as a federal prosecutor. He later moved to the private sector, working at O’Melveny & Myers and WilmerHale.
