Biden Appoints Alejandro Mayorkas as Head of Department of Homeland Security

(Patria) – Newly elected US President Joe Biden plans to appoint Alejandro Mayorkas as head of the Department of Homeland Security, Biden's transition team announced on Monday.

A former federal prosecutor in California, Mayorkas served as Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during former President Barack Obama's administration, when Joe Biden was Vice President.  

If his appointment is confirmed, Mayorkas, an immigrant from Cuba, will become the first US-born leader of this department, which was formed after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US. DHS currently employs about 240,000 people, and the department's mandate includes border security, immigration issues, cybersecurity, and disaster response and management, among others.   

Mayorkas (60) was born in Havana and came to the US with his family as a political refugee when he was just one year old. He currently works as a partner at the law firm WilmerHale.

Several of his former colleagues have praised his management skills, as well as his knowledge of law enforcement and immigration.

- He is a law enforcement man, but he has a very deep humanitarian dimension, said Seth Stodder, a former DHS official from the Obama administration.

Reuters writes that newly elected President Biden plans to revoke the entry bans into the US that Trump imposed on 13 countries, mostly African and predominantly Muslim. He also plans to legally open a path to US citizenship for about 11 million immigrants who are illegally residing in the US.