President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security used his position in the government back in 2011 to push through a citizenship-for-sale scheme.
Alejandro Mayorkas, the current nominee to be Secretary of Homeland Security, used to be the director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency under the presidency of Barack Obama. In 2011, career officials under Mayorkas tried to stop him from allowing a giveaway of EB-5 Immigrant Investor visas.
Mayorkas' nomination to Homeland Security raises questions regarding what role then-Vice President Biden or his staff played in this scheme, which resulted in over a hundred EB-5 green cards being given to Chinese investors. (Related: The great media suckup to Joe Biden is in full swing as the Democrat Party Propaganda arm nauseatingly fawns over Biden while further shredding their own credibility.)
According to Breitbart News, which first broke the story back in 2013, a meeting took place at the White House – in Biden's offices, no less – with an American startup known as GreenTech Automotive, an electric car manufacturer; Gulf Coast Management, a corporation that sells visas; and unknown members of the Obama administration.
During the meeting, Gulf Coast Management and GreenTech – which was being led by then-Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe – were pushing for the citizenship deal to be approved.
This deal would have fast-tracked the approval process for green cards for more than 100 Chinese nationals. In return, GreenTech and Gulf Coast Management would have received investments worth around $141 million. But career officials within the USCIS understood that this was a very sketchy deal, and rejected it.
Using his power as the director of USCIS, Mayorkas intervened and got the deal approved. A report by the Inspector General of Homeland Security released in 2015 concluded that Mayorkas "acted inappropriately" when he used his position to green-light the deal.
The concerns of the USCIS officials were well-founded because as soon as the Chinese nationals received their green cards, the $141 million in loans disappeared. GreenTech Automotive declared bankruptcy and the other loans either defaulted or disappeared after litigation. The handful of jobs that the loans created disappeared not long after.
Mayorkas' confirmation could be held up in the Senate
Democrats appear to be rushing Mayorkas' confirmation before Senate Republicans can learn more about this deal. In response, the GOP has threatened to filibuster the confirmation.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer attempted to confirm Mayorkas quickly. But Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told reporters on Wednesday, Jan. 27, that "there's a number of problems" with his nomination. Cornyn and other Senate Republicans argued that Mayorkas needs to be properly vetted regarding immigration issues.
The GOP has called for additional hearings regarding his nomination. In response, Senate Democrats are attempting to break the filibuster with a procedural vote. To do so would only require a simple majority instead of the regular 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.
If the Senate Democrats are able to break the filibuster, Mayorkas' final confirmation vote will be held on the evening of Monday, Feb. 1.
These procedural hurdles aren't the only things standing in the way of Mayorkas' confirmation, however.
During his first hearing in the Senate on Tuesday, several senators were not convinced that Mayorkas would be the best candidate to lead the DHS. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri argued that Mayorkas did not adequately explain how he will secure America's southern border.
Mayorkas and Biden plan to give illegal immigrants citizenship
Mayorkas conceded that Biden was not planning to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That said, he admitted that the new administration wanted to grant citizenship rights to almost every illegal immigrant currently in the U.S.
In his testimony, Mayorkas said that as head of the DHS, he would aggressively overturn every single policy Trump made to turn back illegal immigrants at the border. Instead, he argued that the solution lies in funneling money into Latin American countries to discourage people from migrating north.
In the Biden administration's plan, all illegal immigrants that arrived in the U.S. before Jan. 1, 2021 will get a chance to become citizens provided that they meet other requirements.
"I would be privileged to work with Congress to pass immigration reform legislation that provides that path and provides a permanent solution to what is clearly a broken system," said Mayorkas.
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