HONOLULU – Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) issued the following statement on Nov. 23 after President-elect Joe Biden announced he selected Alejandro Mayorkas to serve as the next secretary of homeland security:
“Today, President-elect Biden made a historic decision in selecting Alejandro Mayorkas to serve as the next secretary of homeland security. The first Latino and immigrant nominated to serve in this role, Mr. Mayorkas will bring critical experience and perspective to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at a time when we need to fix our broken immigration system, undo the damage of the Trump Administration’s cruel and inhumane anti-immigrant policies, and protect our nation from myriad threats in a manner consistent with our values.
“Our next DHS secretary will face considerable challenges, and I am confident Mr. Mayorkas is the right person to restore America’s core values as a nation of immigrants, reuniting families instead of tearing them apart, and keeping our country safe.
“I collaborated with Mr. Mayorkas during his previous tenure at DHS to expand federal support for growing Hawaii’s visitor industry, and I look forward to working with him again as our state looks to recover from the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”