Sen. Cruz Urges Senate Colleagues to Oppose Confirmation of DHS Secretary Nominee Mayorkas

Alejandro Mayorkas, nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 19, 2021. Joshua Roberts-Pool/Getty Images

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Thursday called on his fellow Senate colleagues to oppose President Joe Biden’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Alejandro Mayorkas, over his “disregard for the rule of law and embrace of China.”

As Mayorkas heads for final Senate confirmation, Cruz on Twitter shared a letter (pdf) on Twitter addressed to his Congressional colleagues, outlining what he has described as a “long list of ethical, legal, and policy failures” during Mayorkas’s public service tenure.

Mayorkas previously served as the deputy secretary of DHS in the Obama administration, and as Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

These failures, Cruz’s office said, include “abuses of power that provided special government favors to benefit well-connected Democrats, such as securing an EB-5 visa for a high-level official at Huawei, a global espionage operation of the Chinese Communist Party masquerading as a technology company.”

“Mr. Mayorkas has shown a repeated disregard for the rule of law,” Cruz alleges in his letter, pointing out an “extensive and damning” 2015 inspector general’s report on his prior actions during his position as USCIS director.

Cruz said the report “brought to light his improper actions as the Director of USCIS.”

The report examined how the 61-year-old intervened in the EB-5 visa program process in a questionable way for wealthy investors. It ultimately concluded that Mayorkas didn’t break any laws, but had created the appearance of “special access,” reported the Washington Post.

“Mayorkas overrode normal process in order to provide political favors under the EB-5 visa program to well-connected Democrat stakeholders—including a company run by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s brother that sought a visa for a vice president of Huawei Technologies and a company in which Senator Harry Reid’s son was involved,” Cruz’s letter states.

“Mr. Mayorkas’s improper intervention was the deciding factor in granting visas to politically favored companies and people, and led to ‘significant resentment’ among not only career staff but ’senior managers and attorneys responsible for USCIS mission and programs.' As the Inspector General bluntly put it, Mr. Mayorkas’s intervention was ‘corrosive and destabilizing,’” the letter says.

Cruz also highlighted that when Mayorkas was confirmed in 2013, he did not earn any Republican votes in the Senate.

“As we did in 2013, we should stand firm and refuse to confirm Mr. Mayorkas,” Cruz’s letter concludes.

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• DHS Secretary Nominee Alejandro Mayorkas Questioned by Senate Panel

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) last week signaled that he would place a hold on the fast-track nomination process of Mayorkas, just hours after the Senate Homeland Security Committee ended its hearing with Biden’s pick.

Hawley said he took issue with answers given by Mayorkas about how he will secure the U.S.-Mexico border.