THE NEXT SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY
President-elect Joe Biden announced his nomination for Secretary of Homeland Security – the chief of the three branches of the Immigration Service –
Mr. Alejandro Mayorkas.
Mr. Mayorkas came to the U.S. as a child, a refugee from Cuba, and was raised in Los Angeles. After becoming a lawyer and working in private practice, he served as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California and then was appointed by President Obama to be the Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In this position, he implemented the original DACA program in 2012. Then, he served as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.
There is no doubt that he is well qualified to be the Secretary of this very important government agency. It is reasonable to expect that under him there will be many positive changes in our immigration system.
After the official nomination on or after January 20, 2021,
Mr. Mayorkas would still need to be “confirmed” by the U.S. Senate.
DACA
Now we know that Vice-President Joe Biden will be the President as of January 20, 2021. Then there will be positive changes for immigration including DACA. It is estimated that there are at least 1.1 million undocumented aliens who potentially qualify for DACA and could benefit from future changes.
Until then (1/20/2021) do not expect any changes in the status of DACA.
DRACONIC PROPOSED RULE
The Department of Homeland Security published a proposed new rule about aliens who have final orders of deportation but are temporarily released from custody: they will not be eligible to obtain work authorization during the time they are permitted to stay in the U.S.