Wall Street Journal
By Andrew Grossman
April 30, 2015
The Department of Homeland Security’s number-two official on Thursday rejected accusations he improperly interfered with a visa program for foreigners who invest in the U.S.
The department’s inspector general in March issued a report saying Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas created the appearance of favoritism in his prior job as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The report alleged Mr. Mayorkas got involved in three EB-5 visa applications backed by prominent Democrats, including now-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. The EB-5 program awards visas to foreigners who invest either $500,000 or $1 million in projects in the U.S. that create jobs.
In testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Mr. Mayorkas said he was a hands-on manager trying to fix a broken system. He got involved in individual cases regularly, he said, no matter how they came to his attention.
“It was my responsibility to insure that we were adhering to the law,” he said. “And if that warranted my involvement in a case, then I became involved.”
Republican committee members pressed Mr. Mayorkas, suggesting he overstepped by helping projects win approval after pressure from Democrats like Mr. McAuliffe and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. They also questioned the back-channel means by which some allegedly communicated with Mr. Mayorkas and the perception his involvement created among staffers at the agency.
Democrats, though, pointed out that high-profile Republicans also lobbied on behalf of the EB-5 projects in question and criticized the inspector general for only examining three projects.
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