For Immediate Release
DHS Press Office
Contact: 202-282-8010
NEW YORK— Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas today completed a two-day trip to New York where he participated in a naturalization ceremony and met with state and local leaders and law enforcement officials to discuss homeland security-related priorities.
Yesterday, Deputy Secretary Mayorkas delivered remarks at a special naturalization ceremony at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum for 15 citizenship candidates, which included two active members of the U.S. Military. During his remarks, Deputy Secretary Mayorkas congratulated the new citizens and reiterated the Department’s commitment to commonsense immigration reform. He also underscored the importance of Congressional action to pass commonsense immigration reform– which will offer the best solution to fix our broken immigration system. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Chief Judge the Honorable Robert Katzmann administered the Oath of Allegiance.
The new citizens naturalized during yesterday’s ceremony hailed from: Canada, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, The Netherlands, People’s Republic of China, South Africa and Spain.
While in New York, Deputy Secretary Mayorkas met with New York City Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Joe Bruno and toured the New York City Emergency Operations Center, First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, and New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton and Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence John Miller. Deputy Secretary Mayorkas also visited the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative and received a briefing on the New York City Police Department’s Domain Awareness System.
Deputy Secretary Mayorkas also joined DHS Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Tamara Kessler to participate in a community engagement roundtable discussion with community leaders and federal, state, and local government representatives where they discussed the Department’s commitment to the protection of civil rights and civil liberties in carrying out our homeland security mission and the value of our continued partnership in these areas.
Later, Deputy Secretary Mayorkas met with Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Executive Vice Chairman Malcolm Hoenlein and delivered remarks before the Conference of Presidents on the Department’s commitment to partnering with faith-based communities to prevent, prepare for and respond to threats.
For more information, visit www.dhs.gov.
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