Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas outlines agency's changing mission, Sept. 9

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas will speak about the department's mission in an ever-changing national security environment at a National Press Club in-person Headliner event on Thursday, Sept. 9.

The one-hour Headliners Newsmaker will be held at 2:30 p.m. in the Holeman Lounge. The event is open to credentialed media and Club members. Register online.

Attendees must have a vaccination card on their phone or recent negative Covid test to enter the Club. Find more information about health and safety at the Club and upload your vaccination card.

The program will also stream live on the Club's website and YouTube Channel. Submit your questions in advance or during the live program via email to [email protected] with DHS in the subject line

President George W. Bush created the Office of Homeland Security in October 2001, a month after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Congress as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 established the department on Nov. 25, 2002, to consolidate 22 executive branch domestic security agencies into a single Cabinet office.

Mayorkas was sworn in as DHS secretary by President Biden on Feb. 2. He is the first Latino and immigrant confirmed to lead the department. He has had a distinguished 30-year career as a law enforcement official and as a lawyer in the private sector. 

He previously served as deputy secretary from 2013 to 2016, and as the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2009 to 2013. During his tenure at DHS, he led the development and implementation of DACA, negotiated cybersecurity and homeland security agreements with foreign governments, led the Department’s response to Ebola and Zika, helped build and administer the Blue Campaign to combat human trafficking, and developed an emergency relief program for orphaned youth following the tragic January 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Mayorkas also created the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate to better ensure the integrity of the legal immigration system.