Alejandro Mayorkas

After three years as a litigation associate in private practice, Mayorkas became an Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California in 1989.[16] He prosecuted a wide array of federal crimes, developing a specialization in the prosecution of white-collar crime. His prosecutions included the successful prosecution of Operation PolarCap, then the largest money laundering case in the nation; the conviction at trial of Heidi Fleiss on charges of federal conspiracy, tax fraud, and money laundering charges; the successful prosecutions of two largest telemarketing fraud operations that preyed on the elderly; and the successful prosecution of a health care fraud and insurance fraud conspiracy.[15]

Mayorkas served as the coordinator of the Southern California Telemarketing Fraud Task Force, overseeing the coordination of federal, state, and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies to most aggressively combat telemarketing fraud throughout the Central District of California.[15]

From 1996 to 1998, Mayorkas served as Chief of the Office's General Crimes Section, overseeing the training and trial work of all new Assistant United States Attorneys in the Criminal Division. He received numerous awards from federal law enforcement agencies, including from FBI Director Louis Freeh for the successful prosecution of Operation PolarCap.[15]

In 1998, Mayorkas was recommended by Senator Dianne Feinstein and appointed by President Bill Clinton as the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, becoming the country's youngest United States Attorney.[17][15] He was appointed on December 21, 1998.[18]

Mayorkas oversaw the prosecution of high-profile criminal cases, including the prosecution of the Mexican Mafia in death penalty proceedings, the prosecution of Buford O. Furrow, Jr. for the murder of a federal postal worker and the hate-motivated shooting of children in a community center, the prosecution of Litton Industries for the payment of bribes abroad, and the takedown of the violent 18th Street gang using RICO statutes.[15]

In late 2000, Mayorkas was one of many California officials who participated in efforts to obtain executive clemency for narcotics trafficker Carlos Vignali, Jr., the son of a wealthy Los Angeles businessman. On his last day in office in January 2001, Clinton commuted Vignali's 15-year prison sentence, a controversial decision.[19][20]

In September 2001, Mayorkas joined O'Melveny & Myers as a litigation partner.[21] In 2008, The National Law Journal named Mayorkas one of the "50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America".[22]

Upon the election of Barack Obama in November 2008, Mayorkas was selected by the president-elect for a role in the presidential transition leading up to the inauguration. He led the transition team responsible for the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division.[23]

In 2009, Mayorkas was appointed by President Obama as the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).[8] On May 20, 2009, the nomination was received by the Senate; on August 7, 2009, the nomination was confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.[24] As USCIS director, Mayorkas led United States citizenship through management efficiencies and fiscal responsibility, and safeguarding the integrity of the immigration system.[16] He implemented the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process in 60 days.[25] He led U.S. government efforts to rescue orphaned children following the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti and led the advancement of a crime victims unit that, for the first time, resulted in the ability of the agency to administer the statutory maximum number of visas to victims of crime.[16]

For his work as director of USCIS, Mayorkas received awards from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.[26]

In 2015, a Department of Homeland Security inspector general (DHS IG) report criticized Mayorkas' oversight of the EB-5 investor visa program, which offered lawful permanent resident status (green cards) to foreign investors who invested $500,000 into businesses that created jobs in the U.S.[27] The program's popularity greatly increased under Mayorkas's tenure.[27] The DHS IG report, which was the culmination of an investigation beginning in 2013,[28] focused on allegations that politically connected businesses were given special treatment under the program, focusing specifically on the Sahara casino and hotel in Las Vegas, backed by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and an electric car company led by Terry McAuliffe and involving Anthony Rodham.[27] The report concluded that "The juxtaposition of Mr. Mayorkas' communication with external stakeholders on specific matters outside the normal procedures, coupled with favorable action that deviated from the regulatory scheme designed to ensure fairness and evenhandedness in adjudicating benefits, created an appearance of favoritism and special access."[27] The "fast-tracking" of approvals for individuals involved in the casino program was controversial because it was made over the objections of USCIS analysts "who were suspicious about the source of the funds".[29]

Nominated by President Obama in June 2013, Mayorkas was confirmed as the Deputy Secretary on December 20, 2014, following a party-line Senate vote.[30][5]

The DHS inspector general's investigation into Mayorkas's intervention as USCIS director to expedite reviews for applicants for foreign investor visas in three cases caused controversy and delayed his confirmation proceedings.[31][32] The inspector general's report found that Mayorkas's acts did not violate the law, but did create an appearance of favoritism.[31] In House Homeland Security Committee testimony in May 2015, Mayorkas expressed regret that his intervention created an impression of favoritism, but said his involvement was motivated by a desire to ensure that the applications were handled in accordance with the law: "I did not let errors go unchecked, but instead helped ensure that those cases were decided correctly, nothing more and nothing less."[32]

As deputy secretary, Mayorkas's led DHS's response to the 2013–14 Ebola virus epidemic and 2015–16 Zika virus epidemic.[31][17] His work also focused on cybersecurity.[32] He led the DHS's negotiations with Israel and China on cybersecurity.[33] A landmark agreement reached in 2015 with the Chinese government reduced, for a brief period, Chinese cyberattacks against American companies[34] aimed at the theft of intellectual property.[35] After the normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations, Mayorkas led the Obama administration's delegation to Cuba,[33] and negotiated with the Cuban government on port and cargo security and U.S.-Cuba travel.[13]

Mayorkas was also involved in the Department's counterterrorism and anti-cybercrime efforts, as well as its public-private partnerships,[36] and efforts to fight antisemitism.[13] Under Mayorkas's tenure, DHS greatly expanded its Cyber Crimes Center in Fairfax, Virginia, to aid the department's efforts to combat various cybercrimes, ranging from child exploitation to computer hacking and intellectual property theft.[37] Mayorkas was involved in efforts to address DHS's presence on GAO's "high risk list" for management challenges;[36] Mayorkas, as well as Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, acknowledged low morale among DHS employees (a longstanding problem that pre-dated the Obama administration) and took steps aimed at boosting morale.[38][39]

In October 2016, Mayorkas joined the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr in the firm's Washington office.[40]

On November 23, 2020, President-elect Joe Biden announced his plan to nominate Mayorkas to be Secretary of Homeland Security.[41][42] Mayorkas has the support the Fraternal Order of Police[43] and endorsements from former secretaries Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff (who served under George W. Bush) and Janet Napolitano and Jeh Johnson (who served under Barack Obama), who said Biden "could not have found a more qualified person".[44]

On January 19, 2021, Senator Josh Hawley moved to block the swift confirmation of Mayorkas as the Secretary of Homeland Security, stating that Mayorkas "has not adequately explained how he will enforce federal law and secure the southern border given [then-President-elect] Biden's promise to roll back major enforcement and security measures".[45] Hawley was criticized by the Biden transition team.[45]

On February 2, 2021, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell moved to vote against Mayorkas' confirmation, saying that Mayorkas is an "ethically compromised partisan lawyer". [46] McConnell then said that Mayorkas has promoted "a culture of fear and disrespect". McConnell further stated that when working with Obama administration, Mayorkas turned the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services into "an unethical favor factory for Democratic Party royalty", referencing a report where in 2015, Mayorkas helped several foreign investors connected to Democrats get Green Cards. [47]

Ultimately, Mayorkas was confirmed on a 56-43 vote. [48] Republican Senators Shelley Moore Capito, Rob Portman, Susan Collins, Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan voted with the Democrats to confirm Mayorkas. [49]

Mayorkas was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on February 2, 2021, after his confirmation that day.[50]