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and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" s america. s president biden announs new executive action aimed at curbing the number of migrants crossing the u.s.-mexico border. modi's party claims victory in india's elections, but the alliance falls short of an outright majority. the first day of testimony in hunter biden's criminal trial on gun charges. ♪ welcome to world news america. u.s. president joe biden unveiled sweeping executive

actions on immigration aimed at curbing the number of migrants arriving at the u.s. southern border which have reached record levels in a critical election cycle. under the actions, port officials can deport migrant to enter the u.s. illegally without possessing their asylum claims once the number of border crossings crosses eighth certain threshold. daily apprehensions surpassing 2500, only to be lifted when it dips below 1500 predict. the partial ban will take effect almost immediately. migrant advocate groups have criticized the annouement in one organization signaled it intends to take legal action. mr. biden blamed republicans in coress for refusing to address the situation at the u.s.-mexico border. >> today, i am moving past republican obstruction and using the authorities available to me as president to do what i can on my own to address the border. frankly, i would have preferred to address this issue the red bipartisan legislation because

that is the only way to actually get the kind of system we have now that is broken fixed. to hire more border patrol agents, asylum officers, judges. republicans have left me no choice. sumi: he's referring to measures that were reflected in a bipartisan bill he supported back in may, but that legislation failed after republicans in the senate rejected following opposition from former president trump. in the wake of president biden's announcement, many republicans are questioning the timing of his actions, calling them election-year politics. >> now, understand what is going on here. this is election-year politics. when he signs this executive order, is why didn't you do this in 2021, 2022, 2023, or the month before? sumi: the president spoke to mexico's president about immigration today. mr. biden has come under intense

pressure to tighten border. illegal crossings have reached record levels since he took office but the pace has cooled in recent months. the month of may is on track to see the third consecutive drop in unlawful border crossings according to cbs news. border patrol is on pace to upper had between 120,000 migrants in may, down from nearly a quarter of a million in december of 2023. let's go to our north america correspondent who is following the latest on this story today. why are we seeing this executive action now? >> i think we can read something into the fact the polls do not look good for president biden when it comes to immigration so there was a poll that was done at the end of march. a research agency found two thirds of americans are not happy with the way the president's handling the crisis on the border and 40% of them are democrat voters.

there has been a crisis at the border. you mentioned the record numbers. more than 6 million people have been stopped illegally trying to stop the border under joe biden's administration. and i think that this is an attempt by the president to tackle the criticism. he's however accusing the republicans of politicizing it. they are accusing him of politicizing it. five, six months away from the election, i think given that immigration is the top issue for voters, it is not surprising that the president is trying to take action on it. sumi: tell us more about that. how big of an issue is this politically for president biden in this election year? nomia: just to quote another poll that was done at the end of april. it found nearly 30% of americans considered immigration a bigger issue than inflation and the economy. that is really not changing much from the polling i've seen.

this is something -- i know when i've been out and about, talking to americans, covering various stories that it is an issue that comes up time and time again. but, president biden, as we heard at the start of his statement and at the end of it, he said we can resolve this through a bipartisan agreement and has blamed republicans for not doin anything, for not getting on board. he tried to push this bipartisan bill through the senate. republicans have stopped it after donald trump came out against it. i think for both men, immigration is a big issue going into the election. we know it has dogged presidents and politicians for years and years. sumi: nomia, thank you so much. mr. biden announced the new restrictions alongside the mayors of several border towns, including mayor garza from texas. i spoke to him right after the president's announcement.

mayor, can you tell us how these measures will concretely change the situation in your community? >> first of all, let me thank president biden for what -- the action he took today. i represent -- i am the chair of the alliance of cities of mayors along the border. we invited the president in febrry. what he did today is took action as a result of what he talked about in february when he went down to brownsville, texas. at the time, we were supporting the bipartisan bill but that did not go through. his action today is an effort to do his part in addressing the issues at the border. now, concretely, i think what this will do is this will really make the process more efficient. what i mean by that -- right now, there's a lot of migrants that are coming through the

border. and there is not an orderly way, a legal pathway for them to follow. the important thing is the technology they will get to fight fentanyl and drugs crossing the border -- sumi: cannot jump in and ask you -- one of the questions being asked is it too late to wait until the border is overwhelmed to shut it down? because that is what this action would do. mayor garza: i disagree with that. it is not a shutdown of the border. if you look at the executive action, this is an orderly way for people to apply. we he a lot of migrants that are dangerously -- a lot of them lost their lives coming through the desert. trying to cross. unfortunately, human smugglers are taking advantage of them. this year, it will address that. it will have orderly waya. the numbers may go back up. these tools and structure that has been acted upon today is

going to ensure it will help our border area. sumi: let me ask you abouthe criticism from many republicans, including senator john cornyn of your state. he said why didou wait until now if you were serious about the border? the simple answer is he's not serious, referring to president biden. more than 6.4 million migrants have been stopped from crossing the u.s. illegally since joe biden has been in office. is this too little, too late? mayor garza: no. on the political side, i understand no one will ever be completely satisfied. if this was acted upon, let's say whenever it is people are saying it should have been acted upon, there would've been some other criticism at that time. as a mayor and what my fellow mayors would tell you, unfortunately, there is an environment in washington where it has become so partisan, that it is hard for anything to get done. as mayors of our communities, we

don't have the luxury to have standoffs. sumi: i have to ask about one more criticism from president biden's fellow democrats. we saw the chair of the progressive caucus say she's disappointed and say democrats cannot buy into cruel enforcemen measures that have failed for 30 years. what about that perspective, that these are measures not providing a legal pathway and not approaching the border with enough humanity? mayor garza: again, i respectfully disagree with my colleagues there. look, i have to go back and say that it's a starting point today. there's a lot of work to be done. again, nothing is being done in congress in terms of there being a consensus. what's acted upon today is a start. i know, i get it. there are folks -- i can even tell you personally, i would have liked to see a couple of things.

permanent visas for dreamers. that is still important to me. at the same time, we have to supply the effort that is being taken here to have order in place. sumi: one more question. you said this issue is in washington, it is so politicized. for you and your community near the border, can you tell us what lawmakers in washington don't understand about the impact of migration where your community is? mayor garza: i think for a long time, unfortunately -- i appreciate people who do go down to the border so they can see firsthand. i think what happens sometimes is people buy into a lot of the rhetoric that is out there. for us, what i will say is a lot of what is out there is the area is unsafe and that is further from the truth. our communities, there's not carhaos. the issue is i don't know if

everyone is really wanting and willing to come up with a solution because if they were, they would build consensus. i have to go back to how we act locally. we have to build a consensus, otherwise we would not be taking care of our community. i ask that people look at these actions that were put in place, but there is still much more to be done. sumi: we will have to leave the conversation there, but thank you for joining us on bbc news. mayor garza: thank you. sumi: results are in from elections in the world's biggest democracy. india's election commission says modi's gbjp-led alliance takes them over the 272 seats. the opposition in the alliance has 193 seats. it means mr. modi set the survey rare third consecutive term as prime minister, although his alliance fell short of the 400

ct was aiming for. he spoke to supporters earlier in delhi. >> today's victory, the biggest in the world. this is the biggest democracy in the world and this is the victory ofts democracy. and this is in india's constitution, a very big win. sumi: for more on india's election, our south asia correspondent sent this report. >> a widely expected moment in a historic one. it is only a second time an indian private esther has won a third term -- indian prime minister has won a third term. it is our will to a commitment of a developed india, mr. modi told his supporters, but it is not the victory he wanted.

winning fewer seats than the last election which will damage the air of invincibility that has surrounded mr. modi over the last 10 years. perhaps the biggest shock -- prime minister modi inaugurated a grand hindu temple in january at a site that was disputed by hindus and muslims. expected to galvanize hindu voters, but the ruling party was defeated here by a large margin. ♪ this is how the opposition congress took in the results. with an almost equal fervor. it's rare to see this kind of jubilation amin the losingd -- amid the losing side but that is because the congress party suffered humiliating election defeats. what that has resulted in is a party whose confidence was so

low that i didn't believe they could actually launch a proper challenge. this is a celebration for being significantly back in the game. supporters chanted the name of the leader from india's most prominent political dynasty, but whose capabilities and future were under question. today will mark a point of resurgence. >> the country has stated we do not like the way the country is run. we don't appreciate the way the attack the constitution. that is a huge message to mr. modi. >> it is a bittersweet victory for the bgb. with the numbers they've got, they cannot pass laws unilaterally. they will need to take others on board. some will see this as a win for indian democracy.

bbc news, delhi. sumi: let's get some analysis on the story now. we can speak to ravi, editor and chief of foreign policy. good to have you on the show. can you help us understand how to characterize this victory for mr. modi? a third consecuve term is not really a setback for him and his party? ravi: it is all of those things. it is a win, but everything is about expectations. he has performed and his party has performed far worse than their ow expectations, and crucially, the expectations just 72 hours ago of exit poll data which was banned until saturday. on saturday, a range of indian media channels released their exit polling data which has apache record in india -- a patchy record in india but it followed a basic trend. none of it worked out a plan. purely on expectations, based on

at everyone thought would happen, based on even what the markets thought would have happened because the stock markets today are down by about 6% in india, basically erasing all of their gains from 2024. the bjp will see this as an underperformance and the opposition alliance, when you look at expectations, will see this is something they can celebrate to some extent even though they have lost. sumi: that is where we saw some of the images of celebrations from the opposition. what is to blame for this a significant drop in the number of seats? ravi: well, there could be so many different things. if you look at the places where the bjp has underperformed, the key one is a state that is home to more than 200 million people. if you look at the type of people who live there, mostly rural, often lower income earners than the rest of the country. one thing th could suggest is

that indians are concerned about the economy, about inflation, about inequality. crucially, modi is seen as business friendly, as often close to some of india's billionaires. maybe that didn't play very well in that state in particular. but also nationally, writ large. another thing could be overconfidence. i think when you tell a nation that you are going to dominate and win an election, people don't respond to that very well. it could be some of that. lastly, to take a little bit of a step back, this could also be a reversion to the norm. from the 1980's onwards, most indian governments had been coalition governments. it was very unusual in 2014 when modi's party won a majority of seats on its own, and even more unusual when it did it again in 2019. it has won this time, the most number of seats. but this could be a reversiono

the era of coalition politics, which is not unusual in most parliamentary democracies. sumi: that would have been my next question. what will this mean practically for mr. modi to have to enter into a coalition? ravi: immediately, he will be less authoritarian. he will have to be more consultative, more collaborative. he will have to listen first and foremost to his allies without whom he cannot stay in power. as your viewers will know, if he loses the support of his partners, his coalition partners, the government falls. modi will do everything he can do to prevent that eventuality. so, he will need to be someone who is more democratic basically. modi has shunned parliamentary procedure. he has been more and more autocratic in his 10 years in power. he has picked technocrats, cronies for key roles in cabinet positions.

he will now have to bend. he's now going to have to play more of the parliamentary politics he has not needed to do so far. that could lead to several things. it could bleed into -- it becoming harder for modi to erode pillars of democracy such as the media or the judiciary. it could also have other effects on the business side. again, noting that the stock market declined precipitously today in india. it could lead to business sentiment being affected, less certainty. other other hand, it could have an upside of the business front. we just don't know. foreign direct investment in india has declined the last three years. some of that is because investors are spooked about crony capitalism. maybe that can change. this is uncharted territory. sumi: one question on the bigger picture. what do you think this result tells us about where india is right now? a transition? ravi: i don't think so more

broadly. i think for the rest of the world, india's foreign policy will largely remain the same. india -- this particular government has made india's foreign policy more muscular. it has picked and chosen things and want to do on the world stage. it has been more assertive. i don't think any of those things will change in large part because they are very popular domestically. i think on the business front, again, india will try to push towards more growth, more industrialization, more manufacturing, job creation. the challenges remain the same new matter who's in power. i don't think policy will change that much. the key distinction is inasmuch as the bjp tried to pit hindus against muslims, and that it was very incentivized to create a pro-hindu state, it may have to rein in some of those tendencies as it brings together a larger coalition to the table.

and it has to allow more voices and more dissent. that, critics will say, is only a good thing for indian democracy. sumi: always great to get your analysis. thanks for joining us. now, the criminal trial of president biden's son hurnter heard opening statements. hunter biden already pled not guilty to lying about his drug use when applying to buy a firearm. the prosecution described him as a habitual drug user who knowingly misled officials on a declaration form. defense lawyers say he was in recovery for addiction at the time. tom bateman has more. tom: the first opening statement was frothe federal prosecutor. he set out to portray hunter biden as a self-confessed, habitual crack cocaine addict who lied in order to purchase a handgun in wilmington, delaware in 2018. what the prosecution alleges is that hunter biden knowingly misled when he declared he was

not a drug abuser and the prosecution says he clearly knew at the time that he was. mr. hynes stood before the jury and at the very start of his statement made a clear reference to the fact that the person they had to hear these allegations about was the son of the u.s. president. saying that no one is above the law, it does not matter who you are or what your name is. behi hunter biden for the second day, key members of the biden family. among them, his stepmother, the first lady jill biden, who was very close to hunter. sitting about a meter behind him. the family talking to each other at various points during the proceedings. next up was mr. biden's lawyer for the defense, abby lowell, who set out to say this case was all about the detail of what the form actually said. the defense's argument is that

mr. biden at the time did not regard himself as a user of drugs and addicted to illegal drugs because they said he was in a rehab clinic in california before that period. when he ticked the box to say he was not a drug user, that was meant honestly and they are asking for the jury to throw out all of these charges. after that, we will be getting into the first witnesses in the case. the first among those, special agt for the fbi who was put on the hunter biden investigation last year. witnesses do to be called over the course of the next two weeks. the length of this trial is expected to proceed. as for hunter biden, he denies all three felony counts against him. sumi: tom bateman reporting. let's get a quick check another headlines. rishi sunak and kier starmer had their first had to head tv debate one month out from election day.

starmer said his labor party would consider processing asylum claims in a third country if doing so did not breach international law. sunak's conservative party has presented over a controversial plan to send asylum-seekers to rwanda. the u.s. house of representatives voted to sanction the international criminal court in response to its prosecutor applying for arrest warrants against israel's prime minister. president biden strongly criticized the ruling, but said he opposes sanctions against the. one more think we go. scientists have been piecing together an idea next to the discovery of a school of a prehistoric bird. the now extinct bird weighed 230 kilograms. the 45,000-year-old fossil is the most complete skull of its kind ever to have been discovered. quite a discovery. and remember, we can always find more on the days ws on our website, bbc.com/news, plus to

see what we are working on at any time, check us out on your favorite social media site. thank you for watching "world news america." announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

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