Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on the threat of Russian cyberattacks

Judy Woodruff:

Amid all the rising tensions with Moscow, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been warning that Russia could carry out cyberattacks against the United States.

Amna Nawaz picks up the story from there.

Amna Nawaz:

That's right Judy.

And with President Biden's announcement of new sanctions today, there are new fears Russia could retaliate.

To discuss this and other issues, I'm joined by Alejandro Mayorkas. He is the secretary of homeland security.

Mr. Secretary, welcome back to the "NewsHour." Thanks for joining us.

So, your agency has warned that, as tensions in Ukraine rose, so could the likelihood of Russian cyberattacks on the U.S. With the Russian invasion now beginning, as President Biden said earlier today, how likely is that kind of cyberattack?

Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security: We have to information to suggest a specific credible cyber threat against the U.S. homeland, but it is our responsibility to be prepared.

And that's what we in the Department of Homeland Security do. We have the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, as it is known.

And what we do through that agency is disseminate information throughout the federal enterprise to state and local governments and officials, and, importantly, to the private sector to make sure that everyone is aware of the threat landscape, everyone is doing what they can to prevent a threat from materializing, and, importantly, if, in fact, an attack occurs, to be able to respond as swiftly as possible and remediate the situation.

Amna Nawaz:

Is there any concern the new sanctions imposed today could actually trigger that kind of attack?

Alejandro Mayorkas:

Well, I think we have to be on guard. That's our responsibility, as I expressed earlier.

And, in fact, we have been disseminating information, providing resources to the private sector for over two months now, once the prospect of a Russian attack against Ukraine materialized. Our job is to be prepared, to prevent, to respond to and to be resilient, resilient against all sorts of attacks, whatever their origin, whatever their cause.

Amna Nawaz:

I'd like to shift now to immigration, because your agency gets a lot of attention, of course, for what's happening at the U.S. Southern border.

And, really, you face criticism on all sides, I think it's fair to say. But the numbers, just the numbers, when you look at them, they are unsustainable, right? In fiscal year 2021, there were 1.6 million encounters at the U.S. Southern border. That's more than quadruple the prior fiscal year, the highest annual total on record.

That's a that's a major stress on any system, right? So what needs to change, in your view?

Alejandro Mayorkas:

It is a major challenge for any system, no question about it, Amna.

But let me take a step back, and let's remember where we were, with the cruel policies of the past administration, the inhumanity that it executed, the disregard for human life.

What we have had to do in the Biden/Harris administration is build from the ground up our humane, orderly and safe immigration system. And that is indeed what we are doing. It does not happen overnight. But we have thousands of personnel dedicated and talented in the Department of Homeland Security committed to that very mission.

And we are indeed doing that. Not only have we ended the cruel policies of the past administration, but we have passed new regulations. We have promulgated new policies to restore the best of what America is and rebuild a system that was torn down in its entirety.

Amna Nawaz:

Mr. Secretary, you haven't ended all the policies, though.

I mean, one, you have had to reimplement under a court order, the Migrant Protection Protocol program, which a lot of people call remain-in-Mexico. But you have willingly kept in place Title 42, which is a pandemic era rule put in place under the Trump administration, that immediately expels the vast majority of people who present at the southern border. Why is that still in place? When is that going to end?

Alejandro Mayorkas:

Well, let me take those one by one, because we did indeed, and the Migrant Protection Protocols, MPP, remain-in-Mexico, as it is commonly referred to.

I did actually issue a memo rescinding that policy. My memo was challenged in court. And we continue to litigate the court proceeding. But we are under a court order to reimplement that program. So that is not a voluntary continuation of a Trump policy, with which we profoundly disagree. And I articulated the reasons for our disagreement quite fulsomely in my memorandum.

With respect to Title 42, that is not an immigration policy. That is a public health policy, and its authority rests in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And we are making significant progress in battling the COVID-19 pandemic. But, certainly, as we know, all too well by seeing the spread of most recently Omicron, the number of deaths that this country has suffered and the world has suffered, that it is not yet behind us.

And, therefore, we continue to exercise that public health authority that the CDC holds for the health and safety of the migrants themselves, for the health and safety of our personnel, and for the health and safety of the communities into which the migrants enter.

Amna Nawaz:

So, you must be in consultation with the CDC about that, though.

So what's the metric you're tracking? How will you know it's time to end Title 42?

Alejandro Mayorkas:

So, that is a decision that the CDC will make, following the arc of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the data that it has.

The CDC follows the science, and we abide by their determination, as is appropriate for our administration.

Amna Nawaz:

Finally, Mr. Secretary, I'd like to ask you about concerns over rising levels of violence here in the United States across a number of different issues.

But you issue terrorism bulletins warning state and local partners about threats to look out for. And in your most recent one, you cited specifically the fact that COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are easing, and that raising concerns about opportunities for individuals looking to commit acts of violence.

Why do you foresee an increase in violence in the weeks and months ahead?

Alejandro Mayorkas:

I think it's very important at the outset, Amna, to articulate the fact that we don't respond to expressions of speech. We are obligated to and very proud to stand by one of the most foundational principles of our country, and that is freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly.

But what we are seeing is the propagation of false narratives with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are seeing a false narratives with respect to the 2020 election. We are seeing ideologies of hate. We are seeing anti-government sentiment.

And it is not those expressions that really call for our focus, but it is their connectivity to violence that triggers our involvement. And so we are seeing, for example, individuals who protest the mask mandate that is operative in airports and on airlines to conduct themselves in such a way that they risk other passengers' safety and the like.

And that's where law enforcement authorities come into play. It's the connectivity between particular ideologies and acts of violence. When somebody crosses the line and violates the law, we in the government become involved.

Amna Nawaz:

That is the secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, joining us tonight.

Mr. Secretary, thank you for your time.

Alejandro Mayorkas:

Thank you so much for having me.