November 7, 2024

Mayorkas ducks questions on pro-Hamas employee; Hawley calls him ‘despicable’

Hawley #Hawley

Sen. Josh Hawley unloaded on Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday after the Homeland Security secretary said he has not fired the pro-Hamas employee who worked at his department and declined to tell Congress what kind of cases she handled as an asylum officer.

“What’s going on here? Is this typical of people that work at DHS?” said Mr. Hawley, Missouri Republican.

Mr. Mayorkas said the woman, Nejwa Ali, was hired in 2019, which was before his tenure. He said she has been placed on leave but said anything beyond that was part of an “ongoing personnel matter” and he wouldn’t talk about it.

He also denounced Mr. Hawley for the questions, saying he was insulting Homeland Security employees by suggesting the woman’s pro-Hamas and anti-Israel sentiments were common.

“Perhaps he does not know that I am a child of a Holocaust survivor,” Mr. Mayorkas said. “I find his adversarial tone to be entirely misplaced. I find it to be disrespectful of me and my heritage.”

Mr. Hawley said it was Mr. Mayorkas who was showing disrespect by not answering questions about Ms. Ali’s job.

“You’re not going to tell us what this person’s done?” the senator said. “You come here unwilling to answer and suggest that it is wrong of me to ask you the question. Quite frankly, Mr. Secretary, I think your performance is despicable.”

Ms. Ali worked for the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in Washington in 2016 and 2017. The PLO is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S.

She then started at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the legal immigration agency within Homeland Security, as an asylum officer. She now works as an immigration officer, according to her LinkedIn page.

After the Hamas sneak attack on Israel, she posted to social media praising the attackers and insulting Israel.

When that activity was reported by The Daily Wire, USCIS put her on leave. But the agency, like Mr. Mayorkas, has declined to say more about her work on immigration cases or the situation surrounding her hiring.

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