Alejandro Mayorkas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alejandro Mayorkas
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Official portrait, 2021
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| 7th United States Secretary of Homeland Security | |
| Assumed office February 2, 2021 |
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| President | Joe Biden |
| Deputy | John Tien Kristie Canegallo (acting) |
| Preceded by | Kirstjen Nielsen |
| 6th United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security | |
| In office December 23, 2013 – October 28, 2016 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Jane Holl Lute |
| Succeeded by | Elaine Duke |
| Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services | |
| In office August 12, 2009 – December 23, 2013 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Emilio T. Gonzalez |
| Succeeded by | León Rodríguez |
| United States Attorney for the Central District of California | |
| In office December 21, 1998 – April 20, 2001 |
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| President | Bill Clinton George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Nora Margaret Manella |
| Succeeded by | Debra Wong Yang |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 24, 1959 Havana, Cuba |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Tanya Mayorkas |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley (BA) Loyola Marymount University (JD) |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas (born November 24, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2021 as the seventh United States Secretary of Homeland Security. During the Obama administration, he also served in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), first as director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (2009–2013), and as deputy secretary of DHS (2013–2016).
On February 13, 2024, Mayorkas was impeached, with a 214–213 vote, by the United States House of Representatives. This came after an earlier unsuccessful impeachment vote of Mayorkas one week prior. Mayorkas is only the second cabinet member in U.S. history to be impeached, the first being Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876.
Early life and education
Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas was born in Havana, Cuba, on November 24, 1959. When he was one year old, his parents fled with him and his sister to the United States in 1960 as refugees, following the Cuban Revolution. He lived in Miami, Florida, before his family moved to Los Angeles, California, where he was raised for the remainder of his youth. Mayorkas grew up in Beverly Hills and attended Beverly Hills High School.
His father, Charles R. "Nicky" Mayorkas, was born in Cuba. He was a Cuban Jew of Sephardi (from the former Ottoman Empire, present-day Turkey and Greece) and Ashkenazi (from Poland) background. He owned and operated a steel wool factory on the outskirts of Havana. Nicky Mayorkas studied economics at Dartmouth College.
His mother, Anita (Gabor), was a Romanian Jew whose family escaped the Holocaust and fled to Cuba in the 1940s before leaving for the United States after the Cuban Revolution.
Mayorkas graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with distinction. He received his Juris Doctor in 1985 from Loyola Law School, where he was an editor of the Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review.
Career
Mayorkas worked as an Assistant United States Attorney and was appointed the United States attorney for the Central District of California in Los Angeles during the administration of President Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, where he oversaw the prosecution of high-profile criminal cases.
Mayorkas was a member of the presidential transition team for Barack Obama before he assumed office in January 2009, where he led the team responsible for the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division.
He was appointed by President Obama as the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). On May 20, 2009, the nomination was received by the Senate; on August 7, 2009, the nomination was confirmed by the Senate by voice vote. As USCIS director, Mayorkas led United States citizenship through management efficiencies and fiscal responsibility, and safeguarded the integrity of the immigration system. He implemented the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process in sixty days. He led U.S. government efforts to rescue orphaned children following the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti and led the advancement of a crime victims unit that, for the first time, made it possible for the agency to issue the statutory maximum number of visas to victims of crime.
In 2016, Mayorkas became a partner at the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, in their Washington, D.C., office. On November 23, 2020, President-elect Joe Biden announced he would nominate Mayorkas as secretary of homeland security in his Cabinet. Mayorkas's nomination received the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police and former secretaries Tom Ridge, Michael Chertoff (who served under George W. Bush), Janet Napolitano and Jeh Johnson (under whom Mayorkas served), who said Biden "could not have found a more qualified person". On February 2, 2021, Mayorkas was confirmed by the Senate on a 56–43 vote, with significant Senate Republican opposition. He was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on February 2, 2021. Mayorkas is the first refugee and first person born in Latin America to lead the department.
On January 28, 2024, House Republicans introduced two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, alleging "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law" and breach of the public trust.
On February 13, 2024, the United States House of Representatives voted to impeach Mayorkas by a vote of 214–213.
Personal life
Mayorkas and his wife Tanya have two daughters. He is a runner and plays tennis and squash.
Images for kids
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Mayorkas arrives at the DHS headquarters following his swearing-in as secretary, 2021
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DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Joins US President Joe Biden at FEMA Headquarters, 2023
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See also
In Spanish: Alejandro Mayorkas para niños
