Alejandro Mayorkas

Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas (born November 24, 1959) is a Cuban-born American attorney and former government official who served as the seventh United States Secretary of Homeland Security from February 2, 2021, to January 20, 2025. A political refugee whose family fled Havana shortly after his birth, Mayorkas rose through federal law enforcement ranks, becoming the youngest U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California at age 39 before directing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from 2009 to 2013 and serving as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2016.

Confirmed as DHS Secretary by a Senate vote of 56-43 amid partisan divides, Mayorkas oversaw the department during a surge in southwest border encounters that reached historic levels, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection recording over 2.3 million nationwide encounters in fiscal year 2022 alone—more than double pre-2021 figures—and sustained high volumes through fiscal year 2024. His leadership drew criticism for perceived lax enforcement of immigration statutes, culminating in the House of Representatives impeaching him on February 6, 2024, on charges of high crimes and misdemeanors for allegedly willfully refusing to secure the border and misleading Congress on enforcement efforts; the Senate, however, dismissed the articles without a full trial.