Release Date: February 2, 2021 

Today, Alejandro Mayorkas was officially sworn in as the seventh Secretary of Homeland Security. Secretary Mayorkas took the oath this afternoon after the Senate voted to confirm him. As Secretary of Homeland Security, Mayorkas now leads the third largest federal department in the United States, which includes the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the United States Secret Service. 

Secretary Mayorkas is the first immigrant to serve in the role of DHS Secretary. His parents arrived with him and his sister to the United States as refugees after fleeing Cuba in 1960. Secretary Mayorkas previously served as the DHS Deputy Secretary from 2013 to 2016. Prior to holding that position, he was the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency charged with operating the largest immigration system in the world.