in Washington, D.C. on November 17, 2021 Headquarters, 2023 Minister of the Interior and Safety
Nomination and confirmation On November 23, 2020, President-elect
Joe Biden announced his plan to nominate Mayorkas to be Secretary of Homeland Security. Mayorkas had the support of the
Fraternal Order of Police Ultimately, Mayorkas was confirmed on a 56–43 vote. Republican Senators
Shelley Moore Capito,
Rob Portman,
Susan Collins,
Mitt Romney,
Lisa Murkowski, and
Dan Sullivan voted with the Democrats to confirm Mayorkas.
Tenure Early on in his tenure, arrests surged at the
Mexico-United States border. In June 2021, the monthly number of intercepted migrants reached a decade high of 188,800. In May 2021, Mayorkas led the establishment of a task force dedicated to reuniting families separated at the southern border during the Trump administration. By early 2023, approximately 600 children had been reunited with their parents. On October 19, 2021, Mayorkas tested positive for
COVID-19 during a test performed as part of pre-travel protocol. He experienced mild symptoms, forcing him to cancel a trip to Bogotá, Colombia, and to reschedule a Senate hearing. Testifying to the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations on April 27, 2022, Mayorkas confirmed that the Biden administration will implement a
Disinformation Working Group in the DHS to "develop guidelines, standards, [and] guardrails" to shape the department's longstanding effort to counter disinformation. Three weeks later, after critics called the initiative "a violation of free speech" and its executive director
Nina Jankowicz had resigned, the Disinformation Working Group was "paused". In September 2021, a
photo circulated of Border Patrol agents using their "long rein" to control horses; however, the photo appeared to show them "whipping" Haitian migrants. Upon its release, the image generated outrage. Initially, Mayorkas defended the actions of agents, but later, at a White House press conference, condemned their actions and pledged to investigate them. In October 2022,
The Heritage Foundation released emails that showed that, hours before the press conference, Mayorkas received emails that disproved the whipping claim, including from the photographer himself. Republicans condemned Mayorkas upon the emails' release. Senator
Ted Cruz, Representatives
Andy Biggs,
Michael Cloud and
Vicky Hartzler had, by October 2022, raised the prospect of
impeaching Mayorkas. Chief of the
United States Border Patrol under President Obama and acting Commissioner of
U.S. Customs and Border Protection under President Trump
Mark A. Morgan also condemned Mayorkas's actions. On October 31, 2023, Mayorkas testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee that more than 600,000 people illegally made their way into the United States without being apprehended by border agents during the 2023 fiscal year. On January 17, 2024, a
non-binding resolution denouncing the Biden-Harris administration's handling of the U.S. southern border passed the
House of Representatives by a vote of 225–187, with 211 Republicans and 14 Democrats supporting it. From January 2021 through June 2024,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reported about 10 million nationwide encounters with removable noncitizens across the country. This includes a record 2.2 million encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2022, the highest in history. Additionally, 1.5 million "gotaways"—people who evaded capture—were estimated to have entered the U.S. during this period.
Impeachment On November 9, 2023, Representative
Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a motion to impeach Mayorkas, citing a dereliction of duty and saying he "failed to maintain operational control of the [Southern] border". The motion to impeach failed to pass on November 13, with the House of Representatives voting 209–201 to defer the resolution to the
House Homeland Security Committee. Eight Republicans joined all Democrats in blocking the measure. On January 28, 2024, House Republicans introduced two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, alleging "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law" and breach of the public trust. Constitutional legal scholars and Democrats asserted Republicans were using impeachment to address immigration policy disputes rather than for
high crimes and misdemeanors, of which there was no evidence. Legal scholar and law professor
Jonathan Turley commented that the impeachment lacked a "cognizable basis" and that the inquiry had failed to show "conduct by the secretary that could be viewed as criminal or impeachable". In a
Washington Post opinion piece,
Norm Eisen and Joshua Matz argued that an impeachment of Mayorkas on grounds of "maladministration" would violate the Constitution. Former DHS secretary
Michael Chertoff, a Republican, wrote in a
Wall Street Journal opinion piece that "Republicans in the House should drop this impeachment charade and work with Mr. Mayorkas to deliver for the American people." On the eve of a committee vote on the impeachment articles, the conservative
Editorial Board at The Wall Street Journal also questioned the reasoning for impeachment, writing "A policy dispute doesn't qualify as a high crime and misdemeanor." On January 31, 2024, Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee approved the articles along party lines for referral to the full House. On February 6, 2024, the House voted against impeaching Mayorkas, nearly along party lines, with the final vote being 214–216. Major media outlets variously characterized the failed vote as a "stunning rebuke", a "calamitous miscalculation", and a "story of a House in utter disarray". On February 13, 2024, the House voted to impeach Mayorkas on a party-line vote of 214–213; three Republicans joined all 210 Democrats in voting no. He was the first federal official to be impeached based solely on policy disagreements, On April 17, 2024, the U.S. Senate voted through a
point of order that the charges were unconstitutional and moot by a vote of 51–48 on Article I (with Republican senator
Lisa Murkowski voting "present") and 51–49 on Article II. Afterwards, the Senate voted, 51–49, to adjourn the trial. ==Personal life==