1 Feb 2021
President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Alejandro Mayokras, has dodged questions about his intervention as head of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to help wealthy foreign nationals secure EB-5 visas, a letter entered into the Senate record claims.
In a January 15 letter to Mayorkas, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) alleged that the former USCIS chief has not been transparent about his role and involvement in a series of EB-5 visa cases. Mayorkas was reported by multiple USCIS staffers for intervening in three specific EB-5 visa cases where foreign investors had been denied visas. In 2015, Obama’s DHS IG John Roth documented the inappropriate actions.