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THE BIG STORY
Biden started the process of unwinding Trump’s assault on immigration, but activists want him to move faster
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed three executive orders aimed at undoing Donald Trump’s aggressive anti-immigration agenda.
The executive orders will create a task force to review the Trump administration’s separation of families at the border and an extensive analysis of asylum processing and the public charge rule — described as a wealth test for immigrants seeking green cards.
But the pace with which Biden is moving is frustrating attorneys and advocates, who are pleading with the administration to go faster for the sake of their clients.
Advocates say time is precious for asylum-seekers who have been forced to wait in squalid border camps, crowded shelters, and apartments in Mexico while their cases are considered in the US.
One expert we spoke to said Biden’s executive orders won’t lead to many immediate changes, but they will initiate processes that could result in significant improvements, including creating a more robust definition of asylum.
Worth noting: A Biden White House spokesperson also said the president will not use sweeping powers to expel unaccompanied immigrant children at the southern border, despite a federal appeals court clearing the way for him to do so last week. People seeking asylum in the US wait at the border crossing bridge in Tijuana, Mexico, just across the border from San Diego, on Jan. 8. Elliot Spagat / AP HELP US PURSUE GOVERNMENT SECRETS
Our journalists filed 58 Freedom of Information Act lawsuits during Trump's presidency — more than any other media organization in the US. We have no plans to slow down, but pursuing that work is expensive and time consuming. STAYING ON TOP OF THIS
Trump supporters' own explanations for assaulting the Capitol are undercutting his impeachment defense
Next week, Trump’s second impeachment trial begins. The former president formally responded to the charges filed by House Democrats, denying that he incited a mob to violently descend on the Capitol building.
But court records in the 175-plus criminal cases filed so far in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection reveal that’s exactly what at least some of Trump’s supporters thought he was directing them to do.
Social media posts, FBI interview summaries, and publicly available interviews that prosecutors included in charging papers lay out the extent to which Trump’s supporters understood his words as a direction to act. SNAPSHOTS
Two FBI agents were shot dead and three injured while serving a warrant in Florida. The subject of the warrant, who was suspected of possession of child sexual abuse material, barricaded in his home for several hours before killing himself, the Miami Herald reported.
After 27 years, Jeff Bezos will step down as Amazon CEO. He will be replaced by Andy Jassy, who is currently CEO of Amazon Web Services. In a blog post, Bezos said he’ll “have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions.”
The first Latino and immigrant has been confirmed to run the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate voted to confirm Alejandro Mayorkas, a former top Obama administration official, on Tuesday. Mayorkas became a US citizen in 1973 after his father fled Cuba with his family.
Two women were killed as they tried to protect a rape victim from hitmen. A man accused of raping his niece allegedly planned the attack, which ended in the murder of his sister and her neighbor.
Comcast has agreed to increase its low-cost internet speeds after pressure from student activists. The company faced criticism from families who said its low-cost internet plan was too slow for online learning. PROACTIVE STEPS
After fueling a genocide, Facebook is taking a stand against a Myanmar coup
Facebook’s been here before. The social media giant previously faced international condemnation for its handling of the displacement and genocide of Rohingya Muslims that began in 2016.
In 2018, United Nations investigators found that senior military officials in Myanmar had used Facebook, which did not have content moderators in the country, to foment fear and spread hate speech.
After failing to stem the hate speech and misinformation that fueled the genocide in Myanmar, As news broke of a military coup taking place in the country, Facebook now says it plans to take proactive content moderation steps.
In an internal post, the company outlined its strategy. Facebook said it would protect posts that criticized the military and its coup, and would track reports of pages and accounts being hacked or taken over by the military.
Facebook confirmed to us that it would be removing content that praises or supports the coup. A soldier stands on guard outside a Hindu temple in Yangon, Myanmar. Sopa Images / SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ORANGE YOU GLAD
This student shared his mom’s childhood recipe that made him regain his sense of taste after COVID, and now thousands have tried it
23-year-old Kemar Gary Lalor, a Canadian architecture student, and his mother Trudy-Ann Lalor both had COVID-19. The Lalors lost both their sense of taste and smell.
Kemar told us his mom announced that she recovered her taste and smell within days. When he asked her how she did it, she revealed that she used a remedy her mom used to give her — and it entails cooking an orange over an open flame, until the fruit is entirely black on the outside.
Amazingly, the recipe worked for Kemar too. So he made a TikTok explaining how it works, which has gone majorly viral, with thousands saying they’re trying it.
Doctors are divided over whether the method could work for others. Start today slow and define your priorities, Elamin 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
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