Alejandro Mayorkas
Birth Name: Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas
Place of Birth: Havana, Cuba
Date of Birth: November 24, 1959
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish, Sephardi Jewish
Alejandro Mayorkas is an American lawyer and government official. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, since February 2, 2021. He has also been U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, from December 21, 1998 to April 20, 2001, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, from August 12, 2009 to December 23, 2013, and U.S. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, from December 23, 2013 to October 28, 2016; and a partner at the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. As Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration, he implemented the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process, led government efforts to rescue orphaned Haitian children after the 2010 earthquake, and led advancement of his office’s crime victims unit. He is the second cabinet member in U.S. history to have been impeached, in 2024.
Alejandro was born in Havana, Cuba, the son of Anita and Charles Mayorkas, who owned and operated a steel wool factory. His father was born in La Habana, Cuba, to a father of Turkish Jewish background and a Polish Jewish mother. His mother was born in Bucharest, Romania, also to a Jewish family, and left for Cuba in the 1940s, because of the Nazis. His family moved to Miami, Florida, U.S., in 1960, because of the Castro regime, and later to Los Angeles, California.
Alejandro is married to Tanya, with whom he has two children.
Alejandro’s paternal grandfather was named Nissim Mayorkas.
Alejandro’s paternal grandmother was named Jane Barth (the daughter of Hirsch Barth). Jane was born in Nowy Sacz, Nowy Sącz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland.
Alejandro’s maternal grandfather was named Michael Gabor. Michael was born in Suceava, Bukovina.
Alejandro’s maternal grandmother was named Charlotte Berger. Charlotte was born in Vaslui.
Sources: Article about Alejandro’s family background – https://www.washingtonpost.com
Genealogy of Alejandro Mayorkas – https://www.geni.com
The media keeps referring to him as a POC; he’s white.
This is not true at all. He’s referred to as an immigrant and of Latino/Hispanic heritage, which he is.
They keep calling him “Latino” (…)
The point is his surname may sound Hispanic.
Suceava and Vaslui are in Romania, with the former being in Bukovina region.