If Democrats Value Integrity, They'll Oppose Mayorkas for DHS Secretary

Democrats spent the last four years condemning the Trump administration's corruption. And President Biden won a record 81 million votes by pledging to "restore the soul of America" and bring integrity back to the White House. 

So it's disappointing, and more than a little hypocritical, that Senate Democrats are set to vote to confirm Alejandro Mayorkas as the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. 

Mayorkas served as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under President Obama. In that role, he was the subject of over a dozen whistleblower complaints and a scathing report following an investigation by the DHS Inspector General. 

Now more than ever, America needs leaders with unimpeachable integrity. If Senate Democrats ignore the findings of that report and vote to confirm Mayorkas anyway, they'll cede the moral high ground and expose the party to charges of rank hypocrisy.

The Inspector General's report was prompted by a whistleblower who accused Mayorkas of interfering in EB-5 visa processing decisions to help politically connected applicants. The EB-5 program enables foreign nationals who invest $900,000 or more in U.S. businesses to obtain green cards.

Fifteen employees from all levels within the agency came forward to provide evidence. "The number and variety of witnesses is highly unusual," the Inspector General's report noted. A "typical investigation would have one or perhaps two. That so many individuals were willing to step forward and tell us what happened is evidence of deep resentment about Mr. Mayorkas' actions."

Mayorkas's communication with applicants — and the politicians who lobbied on their behalf — "violated established USCIS policy," the report concluded. The then-USCIS director "insert[ed] himself in unprecedented ways into an adjudicative process governed by statute." Because of this interference, according to the report, applicants "received a specific benefit" they wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

This IG report isn't the only blemish on Mayorkas's record. 

Whistleblowers who spoke with Senator Chuck Grassley's staff in September 2010 alleged that Mayorkas scolded career civil servants who were concerned about fraudulent visa applications early in his tenure at USCIS. "Why would you be focusing on [fraud] instead of approvals?" Mayorkas asked the civil servants, per one whistleblower. Just "get to yes," he said. 

Under Mayorkas's leadership, USCIS also dismantled various anti-fraud safeguards and reassigned multiple employees who refused to rubber-stamp applications, according to those whistleblowers.

Mayorkas has also come under scrutiny for his behavior as a U.S. attorney in California at the turn of the century. Mayorkas contacted outgoing Clinton administration officials about a commutation request for Carlos Vignali Jr., who was serving a 15-year prison sentence for trafficking cocaine. 

Vignali's father, Horacio, was a "wealthy entrepreneur and major Democratic donor," according to the Washington Post. The elder Vignali requested Mayorkas's help with his son's clemency petition, since Mayorkas was then the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles.

In 2001, the House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform launched an investigation of the commutation, which President Clinton granted on his final day in office. In its final report, published in 2002, the committee concluded that "Mayorkas provided critical support for the Vignali commutation that was inappropriate, given his position." 

Former U.S. District Judge David Doty, who had originally sentenced Vignali, later called the commutation "outrageous," especially since Vignali's Black co-defendants did not receive clemency and had to serve out their lengthy sentences.

It makes no sense why Democrats, who repeatedly and rightly condemned Trump administration officials' heavy-handed treatment of civil servants and questionable pardons, would support such a flawed nominee. 

Americans want honorable leaders who "go high" even when their opponents go low, as former First Lady Michelle Obama famously put it. Alejandro Mayorkas is no such leader. Senate Democrats can prove they're serious about ethics by rejecting his nomination. 

Kevin Lynn is the Executive Director of Progressives for Immigration Reform.