OUR PICKSMigrants: Asylum & Technology | Cybersecurity Rules for Airports and Airlines | Psychological ‘Vaccine’ against Misinformation, and more

Desperate Migrants Seeking Asylum Face a New Hurdle: Technology  (Arelis R. Hernández, Washington Post)
As the Biden administration struggles to bring order to the border, some of the most vulnerable migrants are finding themselves stuck in squalid camps in Mexico. A significant number are seeking asylum in the United States and were expecting the sanctuary of the nation’s immigration law, which allows migrants fleeing persecution to request protection no matter how they reach the country. Advocates estimate close to 7,000 people were spread out in encampments in Matamoros and Reynosa in January.
All are trying to use a new CBP app that is supposed to make entering the country more efficient. Each day, migrants awake before sunrise to search for a WiFi signal and try to get one of the 700 to 800 appointments available at eight entry points. Advocates estimate there are more than 100,000 people seeking entry. The appointments fill up within five minutes.
Previously, attorneys could intervene to make a case for asylum seekers to get emergency admission into the United States. Now those fleeing gang violence are fighting for appointments on their own, alongside those facing less dire conditions.

Pence Says “History Will Hold Donald Trump Accountable” for Jan. 6^th  (Ben Terris, Washington Post)
‘Make no mistake about it, what happened that day was a disgrace,’ the former vice president said at Washington’s annual Gridiron Dinner.

There’s a Psychological ‘Vaccine’ against Misinformation  (Daisy Yuhas, Scientific American)
Misinformation can feel inescapable. Last summer a survey from the nonprofit Poynter Institute for Media Studies found that 62 percent of people regularly notice false or misleading information online. And in a 2019 poll, almost nine in 10 people admitted to having fallen for fake news. Social psychologist Sander van der Linden of the University of Cambridge studies how and why people share such information and how it can be stopped. He spoke with Mind Matters editor Daisy Yuhas to discuss this work and his new book, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity, which offers research-backed solutions to stem this spread.

TSA Unveils New Cybersecurity Rules for Airports and Airlines  (Kylie Bielby, HSToday)
The new emergency amendment requires that impacted TSA-regulated entities develop an approved implementation plan that describes measures they are taking to improve their cybersecurity resilience and prevent disruption and degradation to their infrastructure. They must also proactively assess the effectiveness of these measures.

Why the December 2021 Log4j Event Remains Top of Mind for Cyber Professionals  (Chris Eng, HSToday)
While open-source software (OSS) in many cases saves developers from having to reinvent the wheel, we need to realize and safeguard against the inherent risk of OSS.

Building From the 2023 National Cybersecurity Strategy: Reshaping the Terrain of Cyberspace  (Trey Herr, Jenny Jun, Emma Schroeder, and Stewart Scott, Lawfare)
If executed well, the strategy will serve as a strong pivot into a better vision for U.S. policy in cyberspace; if not, much of its promise will lack punch.

Republicans Are Calling to Impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Here’s Why Their Case is Bunk  (Frank O. Bowman, III, Just Security)
In the months since Republicans regained control of the U.S. House of Representatives following the 2022 midterms, they have shown little interest in substantive legislation, and have instead announced a spate of “investigations” of topics thought likely to be politically useful. There is also a vocal faction that wants to transform investigations into impeachments of either president Biden or his cabinet officers. One cluster of House Republicans, led by Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Pat Fallon (R-TX), has proposed impeaching Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his role in carrying out Biden’s immigration policies. Biggs and Fallon have each introduced articles of impeachment against Mayorkas. Last month, the Heritage Foundation produced a sort of “brief” supporting the Briggs-Fallon crusade.
In truth, the Mayorkas impeachment campaign amounts to no more than this: The Trump administration used executive authority to institute a wide array of novel restrictions on immigration. The Biden administration, using the same executive authority, has reversed some (though by no means all) of those restrictions. Republicans disapprove of Biden’s partial restoration of the pre-Trump status quo on policy grounds, but more importantly they think highlighting Biden’s actions will help them in 2024. The campaign to impeach Secretary Mayorkas simply gives a face and a focus to this partisan political initiative.
That said, exposing the Mayorkas impeachment push for the cynical stunt it is requires a careful look at the constitutional and factual arguments made by Mayorkas’s pursuers.