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Alejandro Mayorkas

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Alejandro Mayorkas
Alejandro Mayorkas
Zachary Hupp/U.S. Department of Homeland Security · Public domain · source
NameAlejandro Mayorkas
CaptionOfficial portrait, 2021
Office7th United States Secretary of Homeland Security
PresidentJoe Biden
Term startFebruary 2, 2021
PredecessorChad Wolf (acting)
Office1United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
President1Barack Obama
Term start1December 23, 2013
Term end1October 31, 2016
Predecessor1Jane Holl Lute
Successor1Elaine Duke
Office2Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
President2Barack Obama
Term start2August 12, 2009
Term end2December 23, 2013
Predecessor2Jonathan Scharfen (acting)
Successor2Lori Scialabba (acting)
Birth date24 November 1959
Birth placeHavana, Cuba
PartyDemocratic
SpouseTanya Mayorkas
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA), Loyola Law School (JD)

Alejandro Mayorkas is an American attorney and government official serving as the seventh United States Secretary of Homeland Security under President Joe Biden. He is the first immigrant and first Latino to lead the Department of Homeland Security. His tenure has been defined by managing high levels of migration at the southwestern border, implementing the Biden administration's immigration policies, and overseeing critical national security and cybersecurity functions. Previously, he served as the United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security and as Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services under President Barack Obama.

Early life and education

Born in Havana, Cuba, his family fled the Cuban Revolution and arrived in the United States as refugees in 1960. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, where his mother worked in the Jewish community and his father was a Sephardic Jew from Greece. Mayorkas attended Beverly Hills High School before earning a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of California, Berkeley. He subsequently received his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where he served as an editor of the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review.

After law school, Mayorkas served as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian in the Central District of California. He then joined the United States Department of Justice, where he became an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California, prosecuting a range of federal crimes. In 1998, President Bill Clinton appointed him as the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, making him the youngest U.S. Attorney in the nation at the time. In private practice, he was a partner at the law firm O'Melveny & Myers. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed him Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, a role in which he helped implement the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He was later confirmed as United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security in 2013.

Tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security

Confirmed by the United States Senate on February 2, 2021, his leadership of the DHS began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Key initiatives have included terminating the Remain in Mexico policy, ending the construction of the border wall, and establishing new lawful pathways for migrants from countries like Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. He has overseen responses to major cyber incidents, including the SolarWinds hack and the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack. His tenure has coincided with record encounters at the Mexico–United States border, drawing significant scrutiny from Republican lawmakers and some Democratic officials.

Impeachment and acquittal

In February 2024, the United States House of Representatives, led by Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, voted to impeach him on charges of "high crimes and misdemeanors" related to his management of the southern border and alleged failure to enforce immigration law. The impeachment articles passed largely along party lines. The trial moved to the United States Senate, where, in April 2024, both articles of impeachment were quickly dismissed, with the Senate voting that the charges did not rise to the level of impeachable offenses. The acquittal ended the second impeachment trial of a Cabinet secretary in American history.

Personal life

He is married to Tanya Mayorkas, and they have two daughters. His sister is the talent agent and producer Dina Mayorkas. Fluent in Spanish, he is a member of the Sephardic Jewish community. He has served on the board of trustees for Loyola Law School and remains involved in various civic and legal education organizations.

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:United States Secretaries of Homeland Security Category:American people of Cuban-Jewish descent Category:American Sephardic Jews Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni Category:Loyola Marymount University alumni