Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the Homeland Security secretary, took no time for a victory lap after surviving a chaotic impeachment vote in the House this week. He flew to Las Vegas, where he explained security preparations for the Super Bowl.
He insisted Wednesday that impeachment was not an issue for him.
“The allegations are baseless and I am focused on work,” Mr. Mayorkas told reporters, who peppered him with questions about the proceedings in Washington the day before.
After three years in office, Mr. Mayorkas has learned to keep his head down despite the drama, those close to him say. That skill could soon come in handy again as House Republicans plan a second attempt to impeach a man who has become the face of one of the most contentious issues in American politics: the southern border.
“I think it’s unpleasant for him and his family, but he’s focused solely on his job,” said Cecilia Muñoz, chairwoman of the White House Domestic Policy Council during the Obama administration. “This is no surprise to anyone who even knows him.”
Mr. Mayorkas, 64, has been under fire since taking office, particularly from Republicans who see chaos at the border as a useful political strategy in their efforts to capture the White House in 2024.
He has testified in public hearings before Congress more than two dozen times, more than any other member of President Biden’s Cabinet, as the number of people entering the United States has reached record levels. He is also the first Latino to lead the department; When he was a year old, his family fled to the United States to escape the communist rise in Cuba.
Mayorkas cited his upbringing in a January letter to Rep. Mark E. Green, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, who has led the impeachment charge.
“My reverence for law enforcement was instilled in me by my parents, who brought me to this country to escape the communist takeover in Cuba and allow me the freedoms and opportunities offered by our democracy,” Mr. Mayorkas wrote. “My parents suffered such loss at the hands of authoritarianism that the American police officer came to be seen as a tangible symbol of security and the rule of law in our new home.”
House Republicans have argued that Mr. Mayorkas should be impeached on the grounds that failing to enforce certain aspects of immigration law is a constitutional crime. But in the United States, the president and his administration have broad latitude in controlling the border, and Mr. Mayorkas has not exceeded those powers.
Mr. Mayorkas rose to prominence in California in 1998 as the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. He held key positions at the Department of Homeland Security during the Obama administration, including as head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2009 to 2013, when he oversaw the rollout of a popular program to protect thousands of people who came to the United States as children . He later served as the agency’s deputy secretary.
Angela Kelley, a former senior immigration adviser to Mr. Mayorkas, said his “business as usual” actions after the impeachment vote showed how he felt about the entire process.
“I think it signals that he’s putting his head down and doing his job and nothing he’s done is a criminal offense,” she said.
Mr. Mayorkas was well aware that taking on the job as secretary of the department would come with intense scrutiny, especially after the Trump administration pushed immigration policy to the forefront of voters’ minds, Ms. Muñoz said.
“When he took the job he knew he would be the subject of terrible politics,” she said. “It’s getting worse every year. He knew what the problem would be and took the job with his eyes wide open.”
At Wednesday’s news conference in Las Vegas, Mr. Mayorkas pushed back against questions about whether he would resign if Republicans got enough votes to impeach him in the future.
“No,” he said. “I would not.”
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2024-02-08 10:04:19
www.nytimes.com
