Alejandro Mayorkas

“I was raised to appreciate each day what this country has meant for our family, and the blessing it is to know it is our homeland.”

“We are obligated to and very proud to stand by one of the most foundational principles of our country, and that is freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly.”

“We consider domestic violent extremism the greatest terrorist-related threat to our homeland.”

“We do not condone violence, and law enforcement will and has responded to acts of violence when people do not honor their freedom to protest peacefully, but instead violate the laws of our country and the states within it.”

“We are deeply concerned about false narratives, ideologies of hate that are fueled by conversations and messages on online platforms and other social media.”

“It is the family member, the friend, the school teacher, the neighbor, the clergy leader who can see someone descending into a realm of antisocial behavior and, hopefully, intervene to help.”

“Attacks on our critical infrastructure are not new.”

“A crisis is when a nation is willing to rip a nine-year-old child out of the hands of his or her parent and separate that family to deter future migration.”

“I'm a political refugee, and my identity as a political refugee was extraordinarily important to my upbringing. And my parents were very focused on instilling in me a deep sense of what it means and what it meant to be an individual displaced from one's home.”

“What we fundamentally need is legislation to fix what everyone agrees is a broken immigration system.”

“Entire systems are not rebuilt in a day or in a few weeks.”

“We have asylum laws that provide humanitarian relief. Those who qualify under those laws are entitled to the relief that we extend. Those who do not, will not be able to remain in our country. And we can effectively implement both responsibilities and both opportunities to be both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.”

“The cybersecurity of our nation will be one of my highest priorities.”

“I felt like the luckiest kid in the world with the parents I had. Period.”

“There will be many more challenges ahead of us because that is the nature of a dynamic immigration system that is broken at its core.”

“I have worked in support of all the men and women throughout the Department of Homeland Security and in public service who work in, and even rush into, harm's way to protect us all. I have not for a single moment lost sight of what a privilege and honor it is to do so, nor of the obligations it carries on our Nation's behalf.”

“I oversee three agencies and thousands - tens of thousands of individuals who focus on our immigration system and fixing it.”

“Rounding up' is not a term that I would use for people.”

“So, one of the limitations on DACA was one had to be under the age of 31 at the time of application, even though one might have been breakthrough to the United States as a 2-year-old decades ago.”

“We are a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws.”