Alejandro Mayorkas, who is the Latino chosen by Joe Biden to join his cabinet

United States President-elect Joe Biden announced on Monday that his national security team will be led by Cuban-American Alejandro Mayorkas, who already held a position in this team under the administration of Barack Obama.

In a campaign statement, Biden assured that Mayorkas, who served as Undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) between 2013 and 2016, will lead the agency, which is in charge of key issues such as migration.

“Alejandro Mayorkas, former undersecretary, who has been confirmed by the US Senate three times during his career, will be the first Latino and immigrant appointed to serve as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, “Biden’s transition team said in a statement.

The brand new civil servant was born in Havana in 1959 and studied law at the University of California, Berkeley and Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.

During his tenure at DHS, he led the development and implementation of the Deferred Action Program for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the program that the Obama administration (2009-2017) designed to protect children from deportation. thousands of young people brought by their undocumented parents to the United States as a child.

The Donald Trump administration has sought to end DACA, an initiative that has become relevant to its beneficiaries, known as “dreamers.”

The news broke, Mayorkas opened a new Twitter profile and left a message. “When I was very young, the United States provided me and my family with a place of refuge. Now, I have been appointed DHS Secretary and Protection Monitor of All Americans and those fleeing persecution in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones“

In addition, Mayorkas led the DHS response to the Ebola and Zika health crises; He helped build and manage the Blue Campaign to Combat Trafficking, and participated in the development of an emergency aid program for young orphans after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Similarly, he created the Directorate of National Security and Fraud Detection to better guarantee the integrity of the legal immigration system.

In 2015 he made a trip to Havana, Cuba, as the most senior Cuban-American in this government, to negotiate the first national security agreement between the two countries. This agreement was concluded by signing in May 2016.

He left the post of Undersecretary on October 31 of the same year. He currently lives in Washington DC with his wife and three daughters.

AFG