{"id":116597,"date":"2021-02-03T12:29:35","date_gmt":"2021-02-03T17:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=116597"},"modified":"2021-02-03T12:43:30","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T17:43:30","slug":"mayorkas-sworn-in-as-secretary-of-homeland-security-despite-heavy-gop-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mayorkas-sworn-in-as-secretary-of-homeland-security-despite-heavy-gop-opposition\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayorkas Sworn In As Secretary Of Homeland Security Despite Heavy GOP Opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmayorkas-sworn-in-as-secretary-of-homeland-security-despite-heavy-gop-opposition%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=116597&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Mayorkas.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Despite heavy GOP opposition, Alejandro Mayorkas was approved to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday by a 56-43 vote, with only six Republicans supporting his confirmation.<\/p>\n<p>Mayorkas, born in Cuba and raised in Los Angeles, becomes the first Latino and the first immigrant to head the federal department responsible for securing the nation from outside threats. Along with his parents and sister, Mayorkas arrived in the United States as a refugee in 1960. He previously served as the DHS Deputy Secretary and director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during the Obama administration. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national\/senate-confirms-alejandro-mayorkas-as-homeland-security-secretary\/2021\/02\/02\/6297f98e-64d6-11eb-bf81-c618c88ed605_story.html\">According<\/a> to The Washington Post, Mayorkas \u201cplayed a key role in the creation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program known as DACA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mayorkas, 61, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?508574-1\/homeland-security-secretary-mayorkas-swearing-ceremony\">sworn in<\/a> by Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@VP<\/a> swears in DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Qxuzk7MI2W\">pic.twitter.com\/Qxuzk7MI2W<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mikememoli\/status\/1356740910026018817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 2, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt is the greatest privilege of my life to return to the Department to lead the men and women who dedicate their talent and energy to the safety and security of our nation,\u201d Secretary Mayorkas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/news\/2021\/02\/02\/alejandro-mayorkas-sworn-secretary-homeland-security\">said<\/a>. \u201cThe mission of the Department of Homeland Security is to safeguard the American people, our homeland, and our values. The United States is a welcoming and empathetic nation, one that finds strength in its diversity. I pledge to defend and secure our country without sacrificing these American values.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/story\/2021-02-02\/alejandro-mayorkas-confirmed-as-biden-homeland-security-secretary-over-gop-opposition\">reports<\/a>, \u201cRepublicans stepped up their opposition against Mayorkas, including filibustering his confirmation, after Biden on his first day set an unexpectedly aggressive agenda on immigration and border security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican representing Iowa, had said Mayorkas was the only Cabinet nominee he knew of \u201cthat\u2019s got some questions about [him].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has refused to enforce immigration law and has a history of corruption and scandal,\u201d tweeted Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, before Tuesday\u2019s vote. \u201cNo Senator should vote in favor of confirmation.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Alejandro Mayorkas is unfit to be Secretary of Homeland Security. He has refused to enforce immigration law and has a history of corruption and scandal.<\/p>\n<p>No Senator should vote in favor of confirmation.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenTomCotton\/status\/1356606813538562052?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 2, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cUp to this point, I\u2019ve voted in favor of the president\u2019s mainstream nominees to key posts,\u201d Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/story\/2021-02-02\/alejandro-mayorkas-confirmed-as-biden-homeland-security-secretary-over-gop-opposition\">said<\/a> on Tuesday. \u201cMr. Mayorkas is all too familiar with the levers of power that control U.S. immigration law. The problem is when he\u2019s chosen to pull those levers \u2013 and for whose benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. McConnell had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national\/senate-confirms-alejandro-mayorkas-as-homeland-security-secretary\/2021\/02\/02\/6297f98e-64d6-11eb-bf81-c618c88ed605_story.html\">called<\/a> Mayorkas an \u201cethically-compromised partisan lawyer,\u201d referencing a 2015 DHS inspector general report.<\/p>\n<p>The L.A. Times provides <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/story\/2021-02-02\/alejandro-mayorkas-confirmed-as-biden-homeland-security-secretary-over-gop-opposition\">more details<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>A 2015<\/em> <em><u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oig.dhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/assets\/pr\/2015\/oigpr_032415.pdf\">Homeland Security Inspector General report<\/a><\/u> into allegations that Mayorkas \u201cexerted improper influence\u201d in assisting companies with obtaining employment visas when he served as Obama\u2019s director of USCIS, the agency charged with administering the legal immigration system, found that he intervened in three cases \u201cin ways that benefited the stakeholders\u201d and led employees to \u201creasonably believe\u201d that certain individuals were given \u201cspecial access.\u201d The report did not find that Mayorkas broke the law, and he has disputed the finding.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>After the Senate confirmed Mayorkas on Tuesday, President Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/immigration\/biden-sign-executive-orders-immigration-including-family-reunification-n1256431\">signed<\/a> three executive orders focusing on immigration. Biden insisted he was not creating \u201cnew law,\u201d but \u201celiminating bad policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>DHS includes the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the U.S. Secret Service.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Mayorkas is CONFIRMED 56-43. Republicans voting yes: Capito, Romney, Murkowski, Collins, Portman, Sullivan via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lukebroadwater?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@lukebroadwater<\/a>. First senate confirmed DHS secretary in roughly 21 months.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Zolan Kanno-Youngs (@KannoYoungs) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KannoYoungs\/status\/1356700972345663502?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 2, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The six Republican senators who voted for his confirmation were Mitt Romney (Utah), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (Ohio), Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia), and Dan Sullivan (Alaska).<\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite heavy GOP opposition, Alejandro Mayorkas was approved to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday by a 56-43 vote, with only six Republicans supporting his confirmation. Mayorkas, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1892546,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3804,4571,5058,3779,3646,5060],"class_list":["post-116597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-despite","tag-homeland","tag-mayorkas","tag-secretary","tag-security","tag-sworn"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1892546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}