Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has announced he will leave his position, effective Oct. 28.
Sworn in Dec. 23, 2013, Mayorkas has acted as DHS second-in-command under Secretary Jeh Johnson, spearheading immigration, cybersecurity and employee engagement initiatives, such as the Unity of Effort campaign to identify and acknowledge efficiency and effectiveness efforts within the department.
"Ali has been my partner at the helm of this department for the last 34 months," said Johnson in a statement. "From the beginning, Ali has been a source of encouragement, strength and optimism. Routinely, Ali's positive attitude has helped pick me up and given me the strength to carry on. In the face of the extraordinarily difficult issues we face, Ali has been our happy warrior.
"His legacy as deputy secretary will be the number of things we did to improve how this department functions and the significant increase in employee satisfaction we saw this year as a result," Johnson added. "We are all grateful for Ali's many contributions."
Under Secretary for Management Russ Deyo will serve as acting deputy secretary beginning Oct. 29.
