The Senate voted to confirm Alejandro Mayorkas to lead the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday, the same day that President Joe Biden plans to sign executive orders to build on his efforts to undo former president Donald Trump’s restrictive immigration policies.


What You Need To Know

  • The Senate voted to confirm Alejandro Mayorkas to lead the Department of Homeland Security

  • Mayorkas will be the first Latino and the first immigrant to run the department

  • Mayorkas previously served as Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) and was United States Attorney for the Central District of California under former president Bill Clinton

  • Mayorkas said during his confirmation hearings that "the threat of domestic extremism is one of the greatest challenges that the Department of Homeland Security confronts."

The final vote, which was largely along party lines, was 56-43, with 6 Republicans joining Democrats in supporting Mayorkas' confirmation. Sens. Romney (R-UT) and Collins (R-ME) were notable Republican votes to confirm Mayorkas.

Mayorkas will be the first Latino and the first immigrant to run the department, where he previously served as deputy secretary in the Obama-Biden administration. Mayorkas previously served as Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) and was United States Attorney for the Central District of California under former president Bill Clinton.

The orders that Biden will sign related to immigration will include creating a task force to reunite families, which Mayorkas will lead.

“The task force will report regularly to the President and recommend steps to prevent such tragedies from occurring again,” the Biden administration said in a statement.

During his confirmation hearings, Mayorkas told the Senate Homeland Security Committee that "the threat of domestic extremism is one of the greatest challenges that the Department of Homeland Security confronts," noting that he would allow intelligence staff to gather information on extremist threats in "an apolitical, nonpartisan way" following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Many Republicans opposed Mayorkas’ confirmation, with some expressing concern about a since-completed investigation related to his management of CIS under then-President Barack Obama.

A 2015 Office of Inspector General report criticized his handling of three politically connected applications to a program that grants U.S. visas to foreigners who make job-creating investments in the United States.

"I'm concerned that Mr. Mayorkas did not seem to express any regret whatsoever for his previous actions during his recent confirmation hearing before the Homeland Security Committee," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said.

The report deals with three applications under what’s known as the EB-5 visa program, which was created in the 1990s under President George H.W. Bush to promote economic development. It enables foreign citizens to get U.S. residency for themselves, their spouses and minor children if they make an investment that creates at least 10 jobs.

The report said Mayorkas intervened in an administrative appeal for an investment in an application by Gulf Coast Funds, which was run by Hillary Rodham Clinton’s brother, Anthony Rodham, and whose board chairman was Democratic fundraiser and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

It said he expedited the review of a Nevada casino project at the urging of former Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, and directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) personnel to provide Reid’s office with briefings on the status of the application.

Mayorkas disputed the findings, never faced any sanctions, and the investigation has since been completed and closed. 

The report noted that all these actions were "legitimately within his purview" as director of CIS and said "we take no position on the wisdom of these actions," only the appearance.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) also blocked a quick confirmation vote for Mayorkas prior to Biden's inauguration, saying that he "has not adequately explained how he will enforce federal law and secure the southern border given President-elect Biden’s promise to roll back major enforcement and security measures."

The top Republican in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), did not shy away from his criticism of Mayorkas ahead of the vote.

"He does not deserve Senate confirmation to lead Homeland Security. Frankly, his record should foreclose confirmation, even to a lower post," McConnell said. "It's frankly remarkable that someone with this record is even up for a Cabinet appointment. I'll be voting against his confirmation and urge our colleagues to do the same."

McConnell cast the final vote of the day against Mayorkas.

Under Biden, the Cuban-born Mayorkas is expected to direct a major reset of the agency’s priorities, which he signaled in recent remarks to the American Business Immigration Coalition. 

“We must bring to an immediate end the inhumane and unjust treatment of immigrants,” he said. “There is no more powerful and heartbreaking example of that inhumanity than the separation of children from their parents.”

Supporters said that Mayorkas’s experience, which includes serving as a federal prosecutor, is an asset not a liability.

“He is a man of great integrity and principle, with an incomparable work ethic, who understands the complexities of this critical agency and the threats facing our country at this crucial moment,” said Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), who chaired the Homeland Security Committee when Mayorkas was named deputy DHS chief in 2013.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.