Following several record-high months for migrants crossings at the U.S. southern border last year, President Biden is taking executive action to swiftly deport would-be asylum seekers when the seven-day average of unauthorized crossings exceeds 2,500. It echoes past Trump administration policies and, pending expected court challenges, implements provisions laid out in a doomed bipartisan reform proposal negotiated earlier this year.

This episode: political correspondent Susan Davis, senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson, and immigration correspondent Sergio Martínez-Beltrán

The podcast is produced by Jeongyoon Han, Casey Morell and Kelli Wessinger. Our intern is Bria Suggs. Our editor is Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.

Trump's trial enters its final stage next week as lawyers make their closing arguments and the case is expected to head to the jury. And immigration remains a top campaign issue after a record-high level of migrants crossing the U.S. southern border this winter gave way to an atypically quiet spring.

This episode: White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram, political reporter Ximena Bustillo, senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro, immigration correspondent Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, and congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales.

This podcast was produced by Jeongyoon Han, Casey Morell and Kelli Wessinger. Our editor is Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.

The Department of Homeland Security is proposing a new rule the agency says would speed up review of asylum claims — and deportation — process at the Southern border.

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, who is reporting from the University of Texas at Austin, where over 100 pro-Palestinian activists have been arrested.

Immigration observers say that despite increased efforts to curb illegal migration throughout the U.S., Southern border crossings are likely to increase as warmer weather months arrive.

38-year-old Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval came to the U.S. to make something of himself and to help his family in Honduras. He was one the workers on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed.

A new Justice Department report details the failures of police who responded to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022.

The Texas State Legislature had a busy 2023. While its conservative lawmakers grabbed headlines, a quiet staffing change made it a historic year for the two women in charge of the chamber's security.

School vouchers and border security are the focus of a special legislative session beginning this week in the Texas Statehouse. Both are key issues for the state's Republican governor.

One reporter stood out among the press covering Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial last week: a 13-year-old boy, reporting for his own paper.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was impeached by the state House in May, but yesterday the state Senate voted to acquit.

Paxton, who has been suspended, faced 16 articles of impeachment tied to allegations that he abused his office to protect a political donor. The Senate vote reinstates Paxton as attorney general.

Ken Paxton faces 20 charges, including obstruction of justice, conspiracy, abuse of office and bribery — mostly involving his relationship with an Austin real estate developer and campaign donor.

Texas AG Ken Paxton has been suspended from office. He's awaiting a trial in the state Senate after the state House voted to impeach him over allegations of bribery and other misconduct.

A Texas House committee has filed articles of impeachment against Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton after investigators laid out a list of illegal acts they allege he carried out.

Families of Uvalde shooting victims plan to keep fighting to advance a bill raising the minimum age to buy assault-style weapons. But in Texas, a committee vote may be as far as gun control can go.

Abbott's victory was expected — the Republican led in poll after poll and raised more money than O'Rourke. The last Democrat to win a Texas gubernatorial race was Ann Richards in 1990.

The families of Robb Elementary School shooting victims are making one last push to convince their community — and people outside of it — that their vote could help prevent the next mass shooting.

Día de los Muertos, honors loved ones who have passed, the holiday resonated in Uvalde, Texas with a deeper degree of tragedy this year after the community lost 19 children and two teachers last May.

A Texas Republican congressman and a newspaper are calling for the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety to resign after the botched police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting.