US Senate Confirms Alejandro Mayorkas to Be Next Secretary of Homeland Security

A majority of lawmakers in the US Senate voted in favor of confirming Alejandro Mayorkas’ nomination, marking the official as the first immigrant to run the Department of Homeland Security. Mayorkas was born in Cuba and is the son of Jewish refugees.

US Senate lawmakers on Tuesday voted in favor of confirming Mayorkas as the next official to serve as the head of the Homeland Security agency, despite opposing sentiment from some individuals that he is unfit to serve.

Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Mitt Romney (R-Ut) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) were among the six GOP lawmakers who crossed party lines and voted in favor of the confirmation.

Democrats had intended to fast-track the confirmation vote, however, efforts were quickly stalled after questions were raised by Republicans about Mayorkas time as the head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services during the Obama years.

Ahead of the vote, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called on his fellow Republican lawmakers to vote against Mayorkas, citing the Biden nominee as an “ethically-compromised partisan lawyer.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., pauses during a news conference with other Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020.

Speaking from the Senate floor, McConnell accused Mayorkas of doing his “best to turn [the] US Citizenship and Immigration Services into an unethical favor factory for Democratic Party royalty” when he served under the Obama administration. 

The report itself noted USCIS staffers had grown concerned that Mayorkas’ involvement in three cases tied to the EB-5 visa program seemed to suggest he was providing a special treatment to investors who had connections to top Democrats.

The report noted that Mayorkas intervened in procedures involving investors who were linked to former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Anthony Rodham, brother of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Migrants from Central America are detained by a U.S. Border Patrol agent as they turn themselves in to request asylum, after crossing into El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January 22, 2021

Rebuffing Republican calls for additional testimony from Mayorkas, Democrats largely argued that the nominee urgently needed to be confirmed so the department could have a leader to address national security concerns.

Having played a key role in the creation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Mayorkas is also expected to help the Biden administration work out an immigration bill providing a pathway to legal status for millions of undocumented individuals.

Sourse: sputniknews.com