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The President of the United States, Donald Trump, hinted during a recent press conference that the former Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, should be arrested for his role in the implementation of the Biden administration's immigration policies, labeling his actions as “beyond incompetence.”
“If they didn't give him a pardon, I would look into it”, Trump said when questioned by a journalist about the lack of accountability for what happened at the border. “What he did goes beyond incompetence... someone gave him orders, and he followed them. But that doesn't necessarily absolve him of guilt”, he concluded.
Although the comment arose in response to a question about the lack of consequences for high-ranking officials involved in immigration decisions, Trump went further and raised the possibility of reviewing Mayorkas's legal situation. “He was very loyal; it must have been difficult for him to stand up and seriously discuss what happened to this country”, commented the president.
Trump also labeled the impeachment motion against the Cuban-American official, pushed by Republicans but which did not succeed in the Senate, as "false." Mayorkas, who led the Department of Homeland Security from 2021 until January 20 of this year, has frequently been the target of criticism from conservative sectors due to the management of the southern border and the increase in migration flows.
Mayorkas's tenure was marked by tension at the border with Mexico, record levels of irregular entries, and attempts to implement a more humanitarian immigration policy following the "zero tolerance" era under Trump's first presidency.
Since the beginning of his term, Mayorkas urged migrants not to attempt to cross the border illegally. "Give us time to build an orderly system," he said in March 2021, warning that the borders were closed and that the new system would take time to establish.
He also made it clear in denouncing that the first Trump administration had "shattered the immigration system" and that the current collapse was a direct consequence of policies such as the elimination of the Central American Minors Program and the dismantling of asylum mechanisms.
However, in January 2023, the Biden administration, in coordination with the DHS, launched a humanitarian visa program (parole) for up to 30,000 migrants monthly from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua. This policy aimed to curb the uncontrolled exodus via land and maritime routes and to channel migration flows through legal pathways, provided that applicants had sponsors and passed security checks.
The measure, however, came with a tightening: anyone who entered illegally would be automatically excluded from the program and would be deported.
This context placed Mayorkas at the center of the political storm, accused of facilitating an “invasion” by conservative voices, while migrant sectors criticized him for continuing expulsions and not fully dismantling the restrictive policies of the past.
The former secretary was subject to an impeachment attempt by the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, who accused him of "dereliction of duty" due to his handling of the southern border, although the process did not advance in the Senate.
According to the statements made by the leader, from a legal standpoint, arresting a former high-ranking official like the Secretary of Homeland Security is not a political decision but a judicial one that requires concrete evidence of a crime. In the United States, even high-ranking government officials can be prosecuted if criminal liability is established, but the guarantees of due process must be upheld. In the case of Alejandro Mayorkas, there is currently no formal charge or criminal investigation against him.
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