Biden’s DHS Pick Says ‘New Immigration System’ Is Necessary, Provides Few Details

President-elect Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security nominee called the U.S. immigration system “broken,” and provided few details on how he would approach reform, the Miami Herald reported Thursday.

Alejandro Mayorkas said that the reforms will require support from both parties during a Zoom call hosted by the American Business Immigration Coalition, the Herald reported.

“Today, our immigration system is badly broken — and we all know it,” Mayorkas said, the Herald reported.

“The cost of that broken system is incalculably high. It represents a profound toll not only on families seeking to contribute to our nation and forge their own American dream, but on our economic prosperity and our moral authority as well,” Mayorkas added.

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Mayorkas said immigrants, including illegal immigrants, are “essential” to economic growth during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic since American agriculture and technology industries rely on them, the Herald reported. He called the Trump administration immigration system “vilifying.”

“We must bring to an immediate end the inhumane and unjust treatment of immigrants. There is no more powerful and heartbreaking example of that inhumanity than the separation of children from their parents,” Mayorkas said, the Herald reported.

Mayorkas will be the first Hispanic and first immigrant to oversee the Department of Homeland Security if confirmed by the Senate, according to the Herald. He immigrated from Cuba with his parents in 1960.