President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has instructed the Justice Department and current Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to examine whether former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas should be investigated and possibly arrested for his handling of the southern U.S. border during the Biden administration. Speaking at a press briefing in Ochopee, Florida, after touring a new migrant detention complex known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” Trump called Mayorkas’s performance "beyond incompetence" and noted that the former official did not receive a pardon from President Joe Biden. "If he wasn't given a pardon, I could see looking at that," the president told reporters. Mayorkas oversaw Homeland Security for almost all of Biden’s tenure and was impeached by the House in February 2024 on accusations of failing to enforce immigration laws; the Senate later acquitted him. Trump’s comments mark the most direct indication yet that his administration may seek criminal liability for officials who crafted the prior administration’s immigration policies.