WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Tuesday grilled President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to head the Department of Homeland Security , Alejandro Mayorkas, over “troubling issues” in how he handled the visa program for wealthy foreign investors during the Obama administration.
At the confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, asked about a Homeland Security inspector general report issued in 2015, when Mayorkas served as deputy Homeland Security secretary.
The report concluded that Mayorkas "exerted improper influence in the normal processing and adjudication" of EB-5 visas in cases that involved high-profile individuals, including then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
“These were politically connected individuals, where you were in direct contact with them, going around the typical judicatory process,” Portman said during the committee's confirmation hearing for Mayorkas. “Did you have concerns that your actions might be viewed as favoritism and special access?”
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the panel’s outgoing chairman, chimed in about “some pretty troubling issues” raised in a letter at the time, by Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, about the way Mayorkas handled the EB-5 investor program, which offers visa holders and their families the chance to seek permanent residency in exchange for investing heavily in U.S.-based, job-creating enterprises.
“His [Grassley's] main issue in writing the letter to you is that you have not been forthright, you've not answered questions dating back to his oversight letters 2013,” Johnson said to Mayorkas.
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah also questioned whether Mayorkas would recuse himself in future cases that may cast the appearance of favoritism in the investor program.
Mayorkas defended his actions, saying the EB-5 program had been “plagued by problems” when he originally took helm of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the DHS agency responsible for adjudicating immigration benefits.
“I became involved in a lot of cases, because as I said, the work of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is casework. And I did my job. And I learned of problems and I fixed it,” said Mayorkas, a Cuban refugee who would be the first Latino to lead the Homeland Security Department if confirmed.
Mayorkas said he had gotten involved in handling certain cases to ensure that the cases were being dealt with properly.
Senate Democrats, including Sen. Thomas R. Carper of Delaware, defended the nominee.
“Mr. Mayorkas was found to be guilty of one thing, and that's creating an appearance of favoritism,” Carper said. “If we will be honest with one another, every single member of this committee and in the Senate could be accused of the same thing at one time or another.”
The last time Mayorkas faced a Senate confirmation hearing — in 2013 to become deputy Homeland Security secretary — not one Republican voted in favor of his nomination because of the active investigation into his handling of the EB-5 program.
Mayorkas previously was confirmed by the Senate to become director of USCIS, where he served from 2009 to 2013. During that role, he led the implementation of Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals program that has allowed immigrants who came to the U.S. unlawfully as children to live and work in the country without fear of deportation.
The Senate previously confirmed Mayorkas for two other positions: as deputy Homeland Security secretary, from 2013 to 2016, and as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California earlier in his career.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle peppered Mayorkas with questions on border security and how he would handle asylum-seeking migrants reportedly heading in caravans to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Mayorkas said his plans include investing in more technology, rather than spend money on border wall construction.
“The use of technology and use of air and marine assets would be most effective and I look forward to studying the challenges at the border and developing a sophisticated approach to meet those challenges to be sure that we're harnessing innovation and technology to the best of our abilities,” he said.
Congress has appropriated nearly $1.4 billion in the current fiscal year for President Donald Trump’s divisive border wall. Mayorkas said he would need to research laws about discontinuing funds allocated for a specific purpose.
On asylum, Mayorkas remained firm on upholding President-elect Joe Biden’s commitment to ensuring that asylum seekers are humanely processed at the border.
“That means to provide humanitarian relief for those individuals who qualify for under the law, and that could not be accomplished with just a flick of a switch and turned on in Day One, that it will take time to build the infrastructure and capacity, so that we can enforce our laws as Congress intended,” he said.
Committee Chairman Gary Peters of Michigan urged his colleagues to immediately confirm Mayorkas because of ongoing threats the U.S. faces both at the border and within the country.
“There is no question, we need strong and stable leadership at the Department of Homeland Security, now more than ever,” he said. “Certainly, the threats that we face across all these borders happen daily, which is why his appointment to this position is absolutely critical to do it as quickly as possible.”
It was not immediately clear when the committee planned to hold a confirmation vote and send his nomination to the full Senate.
