Questions for Biden’s Choice for Homeland Security

Alejandro Mayorkas brings experience, but senators should revisit his 2013 confirmation hearings to be deputy secretary.

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Alejandro Mayorkas, President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to be secretary of homeland security, brings significant experience to the role, having worked as deputy secretary during the Obama administration after serving as director of Citizenship and Immigration Services. But his confirmation to that office came while he was under inspector general investigation for allegations of preferential treatment of visa applications, and only on a party-line vote after Harry Reid eliminated the 60-vote threshold for executive branch nominations. It’s worth examining Mayorkas’s entire record of service and the 2013 confirmation process.

If confirmed, Mayorkas will have one of the most challenging jobs in Washington. The DHS secretary leads a 240,000-employee workforce and is responsible for diverse missions including border security, enforcing and administering immigration laws, counterterrorism, protecting critical infrastructure, promoting cybersecurity, and preparing for natural disasters. 

The department has faced significant challenges executing its critical missions, in part due to the design of the organization, created in 2002 in response to the 9/11 attacks. A small headquarters leadership office is charged with the difficult task of aligning eight large components with focused mission areas. 

Another problem is the department’s complicated relationship with Congress. DHS must answer to dozens of different committees and subcommittees with competing jurisdictions. Congress’ longstanding struggle to reauthorize the department or reform the most controversial legal aspects of its missions, such as immigration law and enforcement, means that DHS leaders typically face intense political opposition for some of their key policy and management decisions. This has certainly been the case during both the Obama and Trump administrations.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Bill Nelson

    Elections have consequences. Enforcement of immigration laws are going to be lax under any democratic administration, and even inconsistent under republicans. Enforcement involves saying “No” to people who have a compelling story of a difficult life, often with children.

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      rlritt

      Actually it will be who has the most only or connections.

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  2. Avatar photo
    rlritt

    rlrittjust now
    I personally have a problem with wealthy people jumping the line. Its been my experience that when immigrants open businesses they hire mostly immigrants from their country. I've also talked to real-estate associates who complained that some wealthy immigrants buy up housing in a community and no one but people from their country are allowed to buy in that community, which is illegal but hard to prove. For the most part giving an opportunity to foreign business people doesn't seem to be illegal, but there is the perception of preferential treatment. Just my two cents based on personal experience

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      Bill Nelson

      “...wealthy immigrants buy up housing in a community and no one but people from their country are allowed to buy in that community...”
      A relative was in development sales and she got tapped into the Asian community moving from California to Arizona. She had a good relationship with these people and they were 75% of her sales. No requirement, just good business.

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    Will Bates

    I don't know enough about Mayorkas to necessarily form an opinion on this, but I would like to make a point.

    In no way, shape, or form should we allow the experience of the last 4 years to interfere with the adequate vetting of cabinet picks. That means on both ends. Republicans should give each cabinet pick a fair shake without playing the "they started it" game ("elections have consequences," right?); in Biden's case, he shouldn't try to push through inordinately-partisan cabinet picks just because Trump's swamp was 'worse'.

    Let's kickstart the path to normalization. Ignore Fox News, twitter, and MSNBC, and give us a country worth saving.

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    DougAz

    This sounds like a positive endorsement with a call to reflect on lessons learned over the last 4, 8 and 12 years.

    I'm good with this. Thanks

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  5. Dimmy Carter

    as no criticism of Trump can be found here I don't expect more than 10 comments maximum.

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    Victor Clairmont

    So he allowed foreigners to invest in business here in America and that helped to jump them ahead in the line for getting a Visa, but was deemed legal and no wrongdoing?

    Did I get that right?

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      Will Bates

      No, that's not correct. The EB-5 program was created all the way back in 1990 by the Immigration Act of 1990. Obviously Mayorkas had no part in the creation of the rules of the program itself.

      The allegations correspond with preferential treatment. Like pushing some applicants with political connections to the front of the line for approval. In other words...swampy politics.

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        Victor Clairmont

        Got it.

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          Bill Nelson

          And a heavy emphasis on applicants from China. Now much of that was in the entertainment industry so who cares.

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    Rajeev

    Mayorkas is an outstanding appointment. The allegations of the 3 cases yielded no wrongdoing according to the inspector general. Anyone that is good enough to get the seal of approval from Jeh Johnson is qualified to serve the country. The DACA program in itself has prevented immense amounts of human suffering so Mayorkas deserves a lot of credit for that. As for the transition to electronic records that is bureaucracy that every department in 5e government faces. It is ridiculous how far behind the government is on technological record keeping. Mayorkas will be a great head of DHS, in the manner of Tom Ridge or Jeh Johnson.

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      Bill Nelson

      “The DACA program in itself has prevented immense amounts of human suffering...”
      But the law is what should be enforced. And DACA ignores law, is this what we can expect?

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  8. Avatar photo
    Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

    I was a department chair for five years: 2 under Obama, 3 under Trump. Being a B-school professor is a lot like picking tomatoes--it's not a job many Americans apparently want. When we recruit, we typically get 85-90% foreign applications (we require a Ph.D. from an accredited University). In a B-School, there are more openings than candidates (in Marketing, three years ago at a national conference there were 300 positions and about 135 candidates registered).

    Under the Trump administration, they ratcheted up the hassle of hiring foreign candidates. Where it used to cost $2-3k to sponsor a green card, we now spend $10k on routine ones. We had one candidate where their status changed and they had to self deport during the semester (couldn't get a 6 week delay to let them finish the semester). A lot of nitpicking going on. Many schools offer a Ph.D. in Business Administration, with a focus/major/emphasis in a specific field. We just had a candidate rejected because we asked for a candidate specializing in marketing, and they interpreted a Ph.D. in Business Administration with a major in marketing as not meeting that.

    Two thoughts. for B-schools, starting pay for a 9 month contract is all 6 figures, depending on the area (accounting is hitting $200k at bigger schools for entry level), so these are good paying jobs. Most Ph.D. programs offer tuition remission and a $20k-30k annual stipend. Second, we're getting other country's best and brightest. Vet them for security issues, but if they clear this is who you want.

    Finally, the visa issue is very ripe for abuse

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      Everybody Digs Bill Evans

      I would agree the Trump administration essentially hassled universities over petty immigration stunts. The other case I remember was where they threatened to deport foreign students with visas already in the US when many colleges moved online in what was hoped to be a temporary arrangement due to Covid.

      However, I have questions on why business professors are required to always have PhD’s. It is an applied subject, with many successful practitioners with vast experience who might also make fantastic full time teaching professors. In other fields, such as the sciences, a PhD requirement with a solid research record is often justified, but in business it would seem students are missing out from learning from seasoned professionals as they seek to enter the field themselves.

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        Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

        Both have their place in the classroom, and a good program has a mix of both. They each have different perspectives, and that breadth should benefit students.

        In the 1950s, B-Schools moved more academic at the advice of (I think it was) the Carnegie Commission. Prior to that it was a majority of practitioners.

        The main professional accreditation body for b-schools is AACSB, and they want at least 60% of classes taught by Ph.D. Smaller schools are either unaccredited by AACSB, or they go with a less well known accreditation (ACBSP).




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      Bill Nelson

      “...for B-schools, starting pay for a 9 month contract is all 6 figures, ”
      Ever wonder why higher ed is so expensive?

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        Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

        Yeah, we get paid well. You'd be surprised how bitter so many people are to learn we do well.

        But my department (one of the largest on campus) has roughly 20 fulltime tenure/tenure track professors, and 70+ adjuncts. Our entire university has fewer than 600 full time full time tenure/tenure track professors, with over 3,000 fulltime employees.

        Those 3,000 are why higher Ed is so expensive. We're getting ready to hire a boatload of diversity counselors, to show we are committed to DE&I.

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