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Press Release | Aug. 22, 2023

MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Secretary of Homeland Security to visit Boston to recognize outstanding contributions of DHS workforce and celebrate 20th anniversary of the department

WHO: Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security

WHAT: DHS Secretary’s Awards Ceremony

WHEN: Thursday, August 24, at 10:30 a.m.

WHERE: Coast Guard Base Boston at 427 Commercial St., Boston, MA 02109

Editors' Note: Media interested in attending the awards ceremony are requested to RSVP with d1publicaffairs@uscg.mil no later than 4 p.m. Wednesday, August 23. Media are requested to arrive by 10:00 a.m. to clear security and be escorted to the event, and must provide media credentials and government-issued photo ID.

BOSTON — Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas is scheduled to host an awards ceremony at Coast Guard Base Boston to present the DHS Secretary’s Awards to employees for their outstanding contributions and recognize the workforce’s achievements while acknowledging the department’s 20th anniversary. The Secretary will also recognize “plank holders” who have served at the department since its inception.

The DHS Secretary’s Awards are an annual program that recognizes the extraordinary individual and collective achievements of the workforce. This year’s award recipients improved the efficiency of processing noncitizens at the Southwest Border, deployed across the country to respond to natural disasters, investigated cybercrime, created a new streamlined process for adjudicating asylum applications, safely and securely resettled nearly 90,000 evacuated Afghans in the United States, provided resources for organizations to enhance their cybersecurity resilience, established a process for Ukrainian nationals seeking refuge, secured the 2022 midterm elections, and demonstrated heroism by acting quickly and courageously to save lives in harrowing circumstances. 

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