Cuban Immigrant Tapped to Lead Homeland Security

Per CBS News, Cuban immigrant, Alejandro Mayorkas, will be nominated to lead the Department of Homeland Security in the Biden Administration. Mr. Mayorkas would be the first Latino to lead the Department which oversees 240,000 employees and is responsible for border and transportation security, immigration enforcement, cybersecurity, natural disaster response and other enforcement functions. Mr. Mayorkas, a former Obama administration official, arrived in the United States as a political refugee in the 1960’s to escape the Castro regime. His mother, a Romanian Jew, fled to the United States in the 1940’s to escape Nazi occupied Europe.
Mayorkas is a former Director of the United States Citizen and Immigration Services and was Deputy Director DHS (Department of Homeland Security) services in 2013. His history is not without some controversy. In 2015, a DHS general report said that Mr. Mayorkas had improperly intervened in several visa adjudications on behalf of several companies. Mayorkas has denied these charges.
The incoming Administration has vowed to make immigration policy a priority by overturning many of President Trump’s policy changes including toughening requirements to obtain green cards, restricting asylum requirements and redefining requirements for deportation.
Mr. Mayorkas will face a required Senate confirmation next year.