Mayorkas' Agenda is also on the Ballot

As voters head to the polls on November 5, they should ask themselves an important question: Does a Vice President Kamala Harris victory mean that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will get a four-year extension?  When “The View” co-hosts asked Harris whether she would have done anything differently than President Joe Biden, she responded, "not a thing comes to mind,” which makes one wonder if she has forgotten about the Southwest border crisis. Harris is 100% on board with the existing open-border policy that her administration initiated on its first day in office. Replacing the invasion’s chief enabler, Mayorkas, with someone equally bad, makes little sense. But, in this political era, anything is possible. Harris and the DHS secretary may have had a strained relationship, or she may have political favors to repay or Mayorkas might decide to return to private law practice.

In 1998, then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Mayorkas was recommended by Senator Dianne Feinstein and appointed by President Bill Clinton as the United States Attorney for the Central District of California. After George W. Bush won the White House, Mayorkas joined O'Melveny & Myers as a litigation partner. His former employer does more than a billion dollars in annual billing. Upon Barack Obama’s 2008 election, Mayorkas was selected by the president-elect for a role in his transition team which ultimately lead to his appointment and confirmation as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director. At USCIS, he created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, promoted his infamous “get to yes” policy where he browbeat employees to approve visas instead of ferret out fraud, and had other major blemishes on his record which a DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) report exposed. The exposé focused on Mayorkas’ interference with the fraud-ridden EB-5 visa which allows foreign nationals and their families to become U.S citizens for a token investment in a start-up business. OIG concluded that Mayorkas "exerted improper influence in the normal processing and adjudication.” In an intermediate step on his way to becoming DHS Secretary, Mayorkas worked as deputy secretary under Jeh Johnson.

When President Joe Biden nominated Mayorkas as DHS secretary, confirmed by the Senate 56-43 with six Republicans voting yea and sworn in by Harris, the nation’s immigration path forward was clear. But even the most skeptical about what Mayorkas might unleash could not have imagined the dreadful outcome. The secretary threw open the border, waved millions---perhaps tens of millions, no one knows---of unvetted illegal immigrants including criminals and terrorists---into the interior, illegally created the CBP-One app, illegally granted parole to illegal aliens, expanded the eligibility list for Temporary Protected Status recipients, and encouraged more unqualified asylum seekers to surge the border. Mayorkas’ law-breaking actions---only Congress can create immigration law---are impeachable, and some say treasonous. His unconstitutional actions resulted in a successful House vote to impeach him which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, for the first time in U.S. history, refused to bring before the Upper Chamber for a vote

Reviewing the evolution of how the U.S. got into its immigration mess---the crisis can be laid directly at the feet of multimillionaire elitists and idealists---Mayorkas, Harris, Clinton, Obama, Feinstein and Biden. Mayorkas’ estimated DHS earnings are about $200,000 annually. But the financial disclosure form he filled out in January 2021 reflected $8 million net worth and detailed generous earnings from his days at the WilmerHale law firm, including a $3.3 million partnership share that he had already received, as well as more than $1 million that he was still due. Harris’ net worth disclosure is like Mayorkas’; the Vice President has amassed a $7 million fortune. Her portfolio, shared with husband Douglas Emhoff, includes homes in Los Angeles and Washington D.C., worth an estimated $5 million before debt, two pensions from Harris’ time as a California state government employee worth $1 million, and at least $1.2 million of retirement accounts for her spouse. The minute they either retire or are voted out, multimillion dollar book deal proposals will pour in.

Should Harris stick with Mayorkas for four more years, the border would not only remain open but the two would combine efforts for a widespread illegal alien amnesty, a goal both have consistently advocated for. The outcome would depend on Congress’ make up but historically several Republicans have promoted a citizenship pathway for illegal aliens. Mayorkas’ name does not appear on the ballot, but his radical immigration agenda, an agenda most Americans never wanted, will be also be voted on.

Joe Guzzardi is an Institute for Sound Public Policy analyst. Contact him at jguzzardi@ifspp.org