Mayorkas says he's 'focused on the job' after impeachment collapse

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas took no time for a victory lap after surviving a chaotic impeachment vote in the House of Representatives this week. He boarded a flight to Las Vegas, where he detailed security preparations for the Super Bowl.

Impeachment, he emphasized Wednesday, was not his top priority.

“The allegations are baseless and I am focused on the work,” Mr. Mayorkas told reporters who asked him about the proceedings the day before in Washington.

After three years on the job, Mr. Mayorkas has learned to keep his cool during the drama, his confidants say. That skill could soon come in handy again, as Republicans in the House of Representatives plan a second attempt to oust a man who has become the face of one of the most divisive issues in American politics: the southern border .

“I think this is unpleasant for him and his family, but he is very focused on his job,” said Cecilia Muñoz, who headed the White House Domestic Policy Council during the Obama administration. “For anyone who knows him at all, that's not surprising.”

The 64-year-old mayor has been under fire since he took office, especially 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 before Congress more than 20 times in public hearings, the most of any 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; his family fled to the United States when he was one year old to escape the communist rise in Cuba.

Mayorkas cited his upbringing in a January letter to Representative Mark E. Green, Republican of Tennessee and the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, who has led the impeachment charge.

“My respect for law enforcement was instilled in me by my parents, who brought me to this country to escape the communist takeover of Cuba and to enjoy the freedoms and opportunities that our democracy provides,” Mr. Mayorkas wrote. “My parents experienced such loss at the heavy hands of authoritarianism that the American law enforcement officer became a tangible symbol of security and the rule of law in our new home.”

Republicans in the House of Representatives have argued that Mr. Mayorkas should be impeached on the grounds that failure to enforce certain aspects of immigration law is a constitutional crime. But in the United States, the president and his administration have wide latitude to control the border, and Mr. Mayorkas has not overstepped those powers.

Mr. Mayorkas rose to prominence in California as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California in 1998. During the Obama administration, he held key positions at the Department of Homeland Security, 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 this is a signal that he has his head down and he is doing his job and nothing he has done is a criminal offence,” she said.

Mr. Mayorkas was well aware that taking the job as department secretary would come with intense scrutiny, especially after the Trump administration brought immigration policy to the forefront of voters, Ms. Muñoz said.

“He knew when he took the job it would be the subject of terrible politics,” she said. “It only gets worse year after year. He knew what was going to happen and took the job with his eyes open.”

At the news conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Mr Mayorkas brushed aside questions about whether he would resign if Republicans received enough votes to oust him in the future.

“No,” he said. “I would not.”