Alejandro Mayorkas
Secretary of Homeland Security
Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas was born in November 1959 in Havana, Cuba. He came to the U.S. as an infant with his family, living in both Miami, Florida, and Los Angeles, California. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of California Berkeley and received his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School. He was a litigator in private practice.
He served nearly two and a half years as the United States Attorney for the Central District of California during the administrations of President Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. President Obama named him the Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and he served there until his nomination as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, a position he held during the remainder of President Obama’s administration. He then returned to private practice in Washington, D.C.
In November 2020, president-elect Joe Biden announced his intention to nominate Mayorkas to be Secretary of Homeland Security. He was confirmed by the Senate in a 56-43 vote and sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris in early February 2021.
Mayorkas and his wife, Tanya, have two daughters. He is Jewish.
In the News…
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Ukrainian citizens currently inside the U.S. will be granted temporary protected status by DHS.
“I’m proud to announce that we will be providing temporary protected status, TPS, to those Ukrainian individuals who are present in the United States as of March 1, this year,” Secretary Mayorkas stated. “Our relief [and] our hearts are with them and we want to do everything in our power to protect them.
The TPS designation is scheduled to apply for 18 months.
In his video, the DHS secretary also said, “We condemn Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked attack against the Ukrainian people. Our heart stand with the Ukrainian people who are suffering so much tragedy and so much loss.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Secretary Mayorkas today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary
Department of Homeland Security
2707 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE
Washington, DC 20528-0525
