Alejandro Mayorkas — President-elect Joe Biden's nominee tapped to lead the Department of Homeland Security — gave the public a first glimpse Thursday of how he'll approach his new post overseeing the country's "broken immigration system."
His public comments via Zoom during a virtual bipartisan immigration summit held by the American Business Immigration Coalition, a national business and immigration organization, are his first since being nominated last week.
Mayorkas emphasized that immigration reform will require Republicans and Democrats to work together in 2021 — a stark contrast to the immigration climate and rhetoric under the Trump administration, he said.
"Today, our immigration system is badly broken — and we all know it," Mayorkas said. "The cost of that broken system is incalculably high. It represents a profound toll not only on families seeking to contribute to our nation and forge their own American dream, but on our economic prosperity and our moral authority as well."
If confirmed by the Senate, Mayorkas, who was born in Cuba, would be the first immigrant and the first Hispanic to lead DHS, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Mayorkas described documented and undocumented immigrants as "essential" during the COVID-19 pandemic and "key drivers of economic growth." He noted that solutions to the "vilifying" immigration system cultivated under the Trump administration "must reflect the broad sweep and impact of immigration across issues and constituencies, because key sectors of our economy — from agriculture to technology, rely on immigration."
"We must bring to an immediate end the inhumane and unjust treatment of immigrants. There is no more powerful and heartbreaking example of that inhumanity than the separation of children from their parents," he said.
Before being tapped by Biden, Mayorkas was working in the private sector at WilmerHale, an international law firm with offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia, where he specialized in strategic counseling and crisis management. Before that, he served as deputy secretary of DHS under the Obama-Biden administration from 2013-16. He also led the office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2009-13.
Though Mayorkas said a "new immigration system" is paramount to job creation, wage raises and economic growth, he did not outline a plan Thursday. Mayorkas declined an interview with the Miami Herald.
Born in Havana, Mayorkas immigrated to Miami with his parents in 1960 as a young boy. Years later his family moved to Los Angeles.
"When I was very young, the United States provided my family a place of refuge. In 1960, my father moved us from Cuba to Miami because he did not want to raise us in a Communist country. He believed in democracy, and he understood the perils and the challenges of living otherwise."
Mayorkas received his bachelor's degree with distinction from the University of California at Berkeley and a law degree from Loyola Law School at Loyola Marymount University. He currently serves on several nonprofit organizations focused on refugee resettlement, providing legal services to the poor, and education for underprivileged youth.
The summit, aimed at kick-starting immigration policy negotiations in Congress, also included brief comments from Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio; Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.; Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Nikki Fried, Florida's commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, as well as dozens of other politicians, business leaders and nonprofit organizations.
"As we look forward, we have no idea what 2021 will have in store for us, we must remember: At our core, we are an incredibly diverse and proud nation. We draw strength from that diversity," Rubio said.
"Everybody recognizes that the current system is broken ... But I'm still optimistic," Diaz-Balart said.
