DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tests positive for COVID-19

WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday morning despite being fully vaccinated, according to a statement from DHS spokesperson Marsha Espinosa.

Mayorkas was tested as part of a routine-pre travel protocol. He was expected to visit Colombia with Secretary of State Antony Blinken but is now isolated at home.

Espinosa says Mayorkas is experiencing mild congestion.

"He is fully vaccinated and will isolate and work at home per CDC protocols and medical advice," Espinosa said. 

Contact tracing within the department has begun, according to the spokesperson.

Mayorkas was with President Joe Biden Saturday at the annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service at the Capitol, standing on the podium between first lady Jill Biden and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

The positive test requires him to cancel a scheduled trip this week to Colombia, where he was going to join Secretary of State Antony Blinken for discussions in part centered on efforts to address what officials are calling an unprecedented flow of migrants, particularly from Venezuela and Haiti, throughout the hemisphere.

DHS, the third-largest Cabinet agency, oversees the nation's primary immigration enforcement agencies, among other responsibilities.