The Diplomat
People, composure and the difficult conversation held well.
Alejandro Mayorkas reads as The Diplomat because his leadership has always been an exercise in navigating contested terrain without abandoning the middle ground. As Secretary of Homeland Security, he balanced migration, security, and civil rights under relentless political pressure, still working toward coalition and institutional trust when consensus seemed out of reach.
“Kara, I disagree. With the interest in breaking apart the Department of Homeland Security. It was brought together very quickly in the aftermath of the 9-11 tragedy. However, what I have spoken of over the past four years is an increased convergence of homeland security and national security, especially in a far more globalized world.”
“Extremely high, extremely high because what we have is a convergence of different threat vectors. In other words, the simultaneity of them. We have both the persistent threat of foreign terrorism. We have a domestic violent extremism, and we also have the malevolent actions of nations states.”
“It has not been a weakness. At all. I was instilled. My parents instilled in me a deep sense of understanding of what it means to be a refugee, of what it means to be displaced from one's home, what it means to lose everything. I understand that I will tell you that there are farm workers.”
“First of all, immigration has always been an electric and a divisive issue politically. So I did know going in that it would be so, that this would not be an anomalous time. I was prepared for a divisive issue. I will say this, that the extent of the divisiveness and how that divisiveness manifested itself did surprise me.”
The David Rubenstein Show: “Alejandro Mayorkas”
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