Trump Asks DOJ to Consider Arrest of Former DHS Secretary Mayorkas

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has directed the Justice Department and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to examine whether criminal charges should be brought against former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his handling of the southern border during the Biden administration.

Responding to a reporter’s question at an event in Ochopee, Florida, Trump asked whether Mayorkas had received a pardon and added, “If he wasn’t given a pardon, I could see looking at that, because what he did was beyond incompetence.” He accused the former secretary of “aiding and abetting an invasion” and suggested the investigation could lead to an arrest.

Republicans have long faulted Mayorkas for a surge of illegal immigration that Newsmax estimated at nearly 10 million crossings. The House impeached him in February 2024, but the Senate later acquitted him. Trump’s latest directive does not itself trigger charges; any prosecution would depend on findings by the Justice Department.