GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "News Hour" tonight: President Trump sends thousands more National Guard troops to Los Angeles, as protests against immigration raids spread to multiple cities nationwide.

GEOFF BENNETT: Vaccine proponents raise alarms, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fires the entire CDC vaccine advisory panel.

AMNA NAWAZ: And an increase in U.S. deportations of immigrants from India leaves many with an uncertain future in their homeland.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: In general, people from India who are migrating with improper documents come from the lower middle class.

Many will borrow mortgage-size sums of money to pursue their dreams.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

After a night of scattered protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles, about 700 Marines and 2,000 additional National Guard troops began arriving today.

California Governor Gavin Newsom and the state's attorney general asked a court to block further intervention from the Trump administration.

GEOFF BENNETT: But protests against ICE spread to other cities around the country this week.

And, for his part, the president gave no sign of backing down, saying the Guard and Marines were needed in Los Angeles.

In a speech at Fort Bragg today, he called protesters a foreign enemy and animals and said he would use every asset to quell violence.

Special correspondent Marcia Biggs starts our coverage from Los Angeles.

MARCIA BIGGS: In downtown Los Angeles today, a tense calm on the streets, with a heavy presence of National Guard members expected to be joined soon by U.S. Marines.

In the Oval Office today, President Trump flirted with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it.

We will see.

But I can tell you, last night was terrible.

The night before that was terrible.

We had some bad people.

We had people, they look in your face and they spit right in your face.

They're animals.

And these are paid insurrectionists.

These are paid troublemakers.

MARCIA BIGGS: This morning, shop owners cleaned up several looted stores in downtown Los Angeles.

But California authorities have said the majority of last night's protests were nonviolent.

In a congressional hearing today, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said troops were sent to safeguard ICE agents.

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. Defense Secretary: We have deployed National Guard and the Marines to protect them in the execution of their duties, because we ought to be able to enforce immigration law in this country.

MARCIA BIGGS: The deployment is expected to last 60 days and a Pentagon official said it will cost about $134 million.

Yesterday, L.A. Police Chief Jim McDonnell said bringing in troops complicated police response to the protests.

JIM MCDONNELL, Los Angeles, California, Police Chief: The introduction of a federal military personnel without direct coordination creates logistical challenges and risks confusion during critical incidents.

MARCIA BIGGS: And, today, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California contrasted Trump's actions now with his handling of the January 6 insurrection.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Something is very wrong with this picture, inconsistent in his actions, contrary to his own statement that he couldn't - - of a year ago that he couldn't send anyone in without the governor's consent anyplace, and in violation of the Constitution.

MARCIA BIGGS: Elsewhere this week, from Atlanta to New York City, mostly peaceful protesters gathered in multiple cities to call for the end of ICE raids.

ANA MEDINA, Home Care Worker: We are not criminals.

We are working people.

And we are not a trash can for the president.

This is not a -- I don't understand if this is his way to make America great again, destroy our people, destroy our communities.

Destroying America, that's what he's doing.

MARCIA BIGGS: At Trump Tower yesterday, more than 20 people were arrested after refusing to leave.

And in Austin overnight, police fired tear gas containers and arrested protesters.

WOMAN: We were just out there peacefully protesting.

We were not being aggressive towards the cops at all.

We were just protesting as normal.

And whenever they decided it was over, they just pushed us and used a lot of force.

MARCIA BIGGS: Back in Los Angeles, demonstrators last night gathered in a small stretch of the city.

Some came to protest in solidarity, even if they were scared to identify themselves.

JOEL, Protester: I am a U.S. citizen.

And that's why I'm here.

I'm here for my mom who can't be here.

I'm here for my uncles and my family members who cannot be here today.

But anybody could just look at me and be like, that's a brown guy right there.

He must not be a citizen.

So, even with my citizenship, I'm still fearful of being out here.

MARCIA BIGGS: Kira Conner has lived in L.A. for 35 years.

Yesterday, law enforcement and protesters stopped right outside her building.

How do you feel about calling in the Marines and the National Guard?

KIRA CONNER, Los Angeles Resident: I have mixed feelings.

I have lived here long enough through many, many riots from Northridge to this, to Rodney King to all that.

So it was bound to happen and needed.

So I don't think the mayor or Newsom handled anything correctly.

That's my opinion.

Did Trump overreact?

Absolutely.

MARCIA BIGGS: She says Trump is right to deport undocumented criminals, but the way the raids were conducted is ripping L.A. apart and has struck some of the city's most vulnerable communities.

KIRA CONNER: Instead of being the nice, showy president, someone has to make moves.

At the same time, you don't go after 30- and 40-year-old people in the Garment District that have been working there.

And I know that they have grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

They make up L.A.

They make up downtown.

And now they're gone, their families ripped apart.

To do this right after our wildfires, this is insanity.

We can't take anymore.

JORGE-MARIO CABRERA, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights: We believe that about 200 people or more have been detained during the past three or four days.

MARCIA BIGGS: Jorge-Mario Cabrera with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.

He says they have been inundated with calls from families, desperate for information about their loved ones.

JORGE-MARIO CABRERA: We only know of probably a dozen or so individuals that we can actually talk to about their case, which means that the others could just simply be already deported or on their way or forced to sign, which is what we're also hearing, that people are being not forced, but certainly encouraged to sign their self-deportation.

MARCIA BIGGS: How scared are people?

JORGE-MARIO CABRERA: Today, I spoke with a couple of workers that went into to do what they need to do to earn their living, honestly.

And I asked them directly, why are you here?

Aren't you afraid?

One of them said: "What I do with my fear is, I bring it with me, put it in my pocket and go on.

There's no other option for me."

MARCIA BIGGS: Cabrera believes that this show of force is used as psychological warfare and a provocation, an attempt to show those who support immigrants as unruly and un-American -- Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, Marcia, we should note you're standing outside that Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown L.A. You reported over 200 people arrested in those ICE immigration enforcement raids over the last three or four days.

What more can you tell us about the circumstances around those raids and who was arrested?

MARCIA BIGGS: Well, we don't know very much, Amna, because we haven't been able to speak to anyone who's been detained.

But Cabrera described warrantless dragnets meant to target indiscriminately as many Latinos as possible.

Now, of course, the administration flatly denies this and ICE maintains that everyone arrested was living here illegally.

But advocates say that they have been detained and have not been able to have access to their families or to any legal representation.

But what we do know is that these were all workers.

They were targeted at places like a car wash, a Home Depot, a clothing manufacturer.

These were all people who were working or looking for work.

AMNA NAWAZ: Marcia, what about in terms of the protests?

Give us a sense of what you see and hear going on around you right now and if there's any sense of where things go from here.

MARCIA BIGGS: So the scene here has been pretty quiet, almost festival-like, for the last hour or so.

We just heard a flashbang.

We just heard another one.

This is kind of how it's been going.

This is what we saw last night.

Of course, we mentioned some looting, but, in general, last night was pretty nonviolent standoff, which would erupt briefly when protesters would set off fireworks and then the LAPD would push them back.

Also keep in mind that this is happening in a very small slice of the city.

It's only a few blocks of downtown L.A. And, in the rest of the city, Angelenos are going about their lives as normal.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that's Marcia Biggs reporting for us in downtown Los Angeles.

Marcia, our thanks to you and the team.

Please stay safe.

MARCIA BIGGS: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: For perspective now on the Trump administration's deployment of active-duty Marines to Los Angeles and the federal call-up of the National Guard, we get two views.

James McPherson was the undersecretary of the Army during the first Trump administration.

He also had a 25-year career in the Navy and served as that service's top lawyer in uniform.

And retired Major General David Baldwin was the top military commander of the National Guard forces in California from 2011 to 2022.

Gentlemen, thank you for being with us.

Jim McPherson, I want to start with you, because Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said today that deploying active-duty Marines to L.A. was the right call because, in her words, they're specifically trained to meet the need on the ground.

Is that the case?

Are combat Marines really what's needed?

REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET.

), Former U.S.

Undersecretary of the Army: Well, I would respectfully disagree with the secretary.

Combat Marines are trained and exercise in just that, engaging in ground combat.

They're not trained and they do not exercise in crowd control or de-escalation or things like that.

Now, we have heard from NORTHCOM that they have received that training, but I would ask, what was the level of that training?

Was it just an hour-long briefing with a handout?

Or did they actually go through the sort of training that M.P.s go through to include, as General Baldwin knows, the California National Guard M.P.s, who do train and who do exercise in crowd control?

Marines are not trained to do that.

They're trained to engage in combat.

GEOFF BENNETT: David Baldwin, how do you see it?

And drawing on your experience, what do you make of President Trump's decision to federalize the National Guard over the objections of California's governor?

MAJ. GEN. DAVID BALDWIN (RET.

), U.S. National Guard: Federalizing the National Guard for use domestically is always a suboptimal solution.

The National Guard works best when it's under state control and can work hand in glove with its law enforcement partners at the state and local level.

Federalization of the Guard creates a lot of challenges.

It very much limits the roles and authority that Guardsmen can use when they execute civil support missions like this one.

Ostensibly, the Guard was brought in, as they say, to be able to protect federal law enforcement officers.

And it may have been a very expedient solution, but, as the secretary said, it probably wasn't the best solution.

You know, you could bring in other federal agents from around the country to come in to execute that task.

So it's a little bit heavy-handed to bring the Guard in and the Marines, especially when it's over the objection of the governor of the state and indeed without the request from the law enforcement leaders on the ground, like Chief McDonnell and the sheriff of Los Angeles.

GEOFF BENNETT: Jim McPherson, you mentioned the rules of engagement that were issued by NORTHCOM.

We should explain that the Northern Command is the combatant control -- the combatant commands, rather, responsible for securing the homeland.

And they told our team that the rules of engagement are still being finalized, but that -- this is a quote -- "Service members are trained in de-escalation techniques and always retain the inherent right to self-defense to a hostile act or demonstrated hostile intent."

Meantime, you got the president.

He tweeted: "If they spit, we will hit."

Is that an appropriate framework for rules of engagement?

REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET.).

: I'm a little surprised that this spokesperson for NORTHCOM would use the term rules of engagement.

Rules of engagement are defined as the circumstances and the limitations that U.S. forces can initiate or continue combat engagement.

Rules of engagement are designed for combat engagement.

What these Marines and the National Guard will be acting under are called rules for the use of force.

They are very, very different.

The other thing that I was very surprised about is, in their statement, they use the word hostile intent.

Hostile intent has no play with regard to rules for the use of force.

It does play with regard to rules of engagement.

Again, I'm very surprised that the spokesperson for NORTHCOM would confuse those terms.

GEOFF BENNETT: David Baldwin, question for you about the National Guard.

When they're activated by the governor for in-state missions, how closely do they typically coordinate with state and local law enforcement?

And do you have any questions about the level of coordination happening now?

MAJ. GEN. DAVID BALDWIN (RET.

): When activated under state control, the Guard works very closely, because, after all, our mission is to support those federal law enforcement -- or correction state law enforcement officials and local law enforcement officials on the ground.

We deploy liaisons at all level of their command to match the levels of our command, to make sure that we are quite closely synchronized because, as Chief McDonnell spoke earlier during the program, about how complicated it is to exercise control during events like this.

As far as coordination between the federalized National Guard and the Marine Corps, I'm hopeful that they have liaisons deployed to the civilian law enforcement agencies that are not federal, so LAPD and L.A. Sheriff and the surrounding communities.

I don't know if they have done that or not.

It would be prudent for them to do so.

But I do know that the National Guard is working very closely with the federal law enforcement agencies that they have been tasked to support.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Jim McPherson, you told our team that you believe the Trump administration wants to see violence escalate in California, because that would be the predicate for the president to invoke the Insurrection Act.

Tell me more about that.

REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET.).

: Well, I think it's unfortunate that this has become so politicized.

I believe that it played into their playbook that this occurred in Los Angeles in California, with a Democratic governor who's going to run for president.

And I think the push here is that they will send in these armed forces who, quite frankly, are not the right mix of people to be engaged with the public.

And there's going to be an escalation.

There's going to be an unfortunate incident, as there was in 1997 on the Texas border, when a similar occurrence occurred.

Marines were there to provide surveillance, and they ended up shooting and killing a local teenager who was herding sheep.

I think there's going to be that escalation.

And when that escalation occurs, I'm afraid the president is going to invoke the Insurrection Act, and we're going to have uniformed service members enforcing the law upon U.S. citizens, something that just shouldn't occur.

GEOFF BENNETT: David Baldwin, do you share that concern about escalation?

MAJ. GEN. DAVID BALDWIN (RET.

): First, I have faith and confidence in the initiative, the training, and the perspective of the young soldiers and Marines that we have tasked to do this mission.

I have great faith in the chain of command and the leadership.

However, as the secretary mentioned, things can spin out of control.

And, unfortunately, in very tense situations, when people get tired and things start to happen, if someone makes a decision that their life is threatened or a federal officer's life is threatened and they choose to use deadly force, that becomes a very unfortunate incident that will escalate and cause a lot of problems.

And, now, that can, of course, happen with the law enforcement officers also, but law enforcement officers are much better trained for this than even National Guardsmen and, of course, the Marines that are on the ground.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Jim McPherson, in your view, did local officials need the help from the National Guard in the first place?

REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET.).

: Well, according to reports on the ground and the report we just heard from your report from Los Angeles, it seems to be very localized.

I'm not sure the governor nor the local authorities requested National Guard assistance.

And when that assistance comes, I just don't see that it was necessary at the time.

I think that was an initial escalation.

And, again, while I agree with the general and have confidence in the chain of command and those forces, I just think this is going to escalate out of control, and we're going to have the Insurrection Act come into play, which is very unfortunate.

GEOFF BENNETT: Admiral James McPherson and Major General David Baldwin, we thank you both for your time and for your insights this evening.

REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET.).

: Thank you.

MAJ. GEN. DAVID BALDWIN (RET.

): Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other headlines in Austria, where officials say at least 10 people are dead after a gunman opened fire at a high school in the city of Graz before taking his own life.

Authorities say at least 12 others were injured in the shooting in the country's second largest city.

They say the 21-year-old suspect was a former student who never graduated, though details on a possible motive were not immediately available.

Austria's chancellor said the country would observe three days of national mourning.

CHRISTIAN STOCKER, Chancellor of Austria (through translator): Today is a dark day in the history of our country.

The killing spree at a school here in Graz is a national tragedy that shakes us to the core.

There are no words to express the pain, the bewilderment and the grief felt by the whole of Austria.

AMNA NAWAZ: Austria has some of Europe's most liberal gun laws due in part to the popularity of hunting and shooting for sport.

Today's attack is believed to be the deadliest such incident in Austria's postwar history.

Russia slammed Ukraine with a wave of drones and missiles for a second straight day, killing three people and injuring at least 13.

Overnight, air raid alerts rang through the capital city of Kyiv.

By morning, thick smoke was still rising over the skyline.

Russian forces also struck the southern port city of Odesa, damaging this maternity hospital.

All told, Moscow fired over 315 drones in the attack.

In the meantime, both sides say they exchanged a new group of sick and wounded prisoners of war.

It's the second swap in as many days as part of a broader exchange that was agreed to during talks last week in Turkey.

In Gaza today, Palestinian eyewitnesses say Israeli troops once again fired towards crowds who were trying to get food from a distribution site.

Hospital officials say at least 36 people were killed and hundreds more injured.

The Israeli military says it fired warning shots at people it called suspects, saying they were advancing on Israeli troops.

So far, at least 163 people have been killed in shootings near such aid sites.

In the meantime, climate activist Greta Thunberg says she was deported from Israel for trying to bring aid into Gaza by boat.

Speaking in Paris, she vowed to try again.

GRETA THUNBERG, Activist: We were 12 peaceful volunteers sailing on a civilian ship carrying humanitarian aid on international waters.

We did not break laws.

We did nothing wrong.

AMNA NAWAZ: This comes as the U.K., Canada and three other nations sanctioned a pair of far right Israeli officials today for allegedly inciting extremist violence in the occupied West Bank.

The measures against security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich include travel bans and asset freezes.

It's the latest effort by Western nations to pressure Israel's leadership over its handling of West Bank violence and the war in Gaza.

A new report from the United Nations says economic uncertainty is the top factor for what it calls a global fertility crisis.

According to its State of the World Population report, 39 percent of respondents across 14 countries say financial pressures are the main reason for having fewer children than they'd like.

Concerns about the future, like climate change or war, is the next largest factor followed by job insecurity.

Overall, nearly 20 percent of reproductive age adults say they won't be able to have the number of children they want.

The World Bank is cutting its global growth forecast due to President Trump's trade wars.

The lender now expects the world's economy to grow 2.3 percent this year, which is down from an earlier forecast of 2.7 percent.

The bank's chief economist says the slower growth is -- quote -- "due to a substantial rise in trade barriers and the pervasive effects of an uncertain global policy environment."

The report comes as us and Chinese officials held a second day of talks in London aimed at resolving their ongoing trade war.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the talks were productive and will continue as needed.

And on Wall Street today, stocks inched closer to new records as traders keep an eye on those us-China trade talks.

The Dow Jones industrial average added around 100 points on the day.

The Nasdaq rose about 120 points.

The S&P 500 also ended in positive territory.

And K-pop supergroup BTS says it plans to reunite some time this year after two more of its members completed their mandatory military service today.

With a blast of saxophone and a bouquet of flowers, band members RM and V, as they're known, addressed the press and their adoring fans.

They joined bandmates Jin and j-hope, who were already discharged last year.

All members are due to be out by the end of the month.

In South Korea, all able-bodied men between 18 and 28 years old must perform military service.

BTS stopped performing as a group in 2022 and fans are eagerly awaiting their return.

Still to come on the "News Hour": the daughter of an American man killed in Syria speaks out about the search for his remains; and the Smithsonian's leadership responds to President Trump's efforts to fire one of its leaders.

GEOFF BENNETT: The abrupt removal of all of the members of the CDC's vaccine advisory panel by the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has sparked outrage and worry among many public health experts.

That includes the American Medical Association, which called for a Senate investigation into Kennedy today.

Yesterday, Kennedy made his case in a column in The Wall Street Journal, saying he was -- quote -- "prioritizing the restoration of public trust" and argued the committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest.

For some reaction, we're joined now by Dr. Tom Frieden, president and CEO of the global health organization Resolve to Save Lives and a former director of the CDC.

Dr. Frieden, thank you for being with us.

So this Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, I imagine most Americans didn't know it existed until RFK Jr. fired all of its members.

What does this committee do?

How does it work?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, Former Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: It's a really important committee and it's been a model for the world in transparent, fact-based, effective decision-making.

Every presentation is livestreamed.

Everything is available on the Internet.

When I was CDC director, we had people coming from all over the world to watch it.

And the claim that it is -- has conflicts of interest is simply wrong.

What the Department of Health and Human Services and CDC did was to post all reported possible conflicts of interest over the last 20 or so years on the Internet.

Of the current 17 members, one has a potential conflict of interest.

That individual is a distinguished professor of pediatric infectious diseases.

And, as is the policy, she recused herself from all issues which she may have had a conflict of interest from.

Her conflict of interest was that she's a researcher who studied vaccines.

What's really important about this committee is that it gives guidance for doctors to know what to recommend to parents, what to recommend to seniors for what vaccines to get, and it determines whether insurance companies and what's called the Vaccines for Children Program will pay for vaccines.

So this decision means that potentially we will have recommendations that aren't based in fact that result in more spread of disease, and people will have to pay hundreds of dollars that today they don't have to pay a penny for.

GEOFF BENNETT: When Secretary Kennedy talks of conflicts of interest, he seems to suggest that the committee members, the former committee members, have a pro-industry orthodoxy that effectively acts as a rubber stamp, to which you would say what?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: There are many instances where the committee has decided not to recommend a vaccine.

Just last year, a new vaccine, the RSV, which is for older people, new vaccine, important vaccine, bad illness, but, as more people get vaccination, you can see some possible what are called safety signals.

So there was a possibility, not proven, but a possibility that there may be a rare adverse effect.

There's really no way to know this until millions of people get the vaccination.

And, therefore, the committee restricted or limited the groups that are recommended to get the vaccine.

So this is simply untrue.

GEOFF BENNETT: How might this affect routine immunizations and the ability of insurance to cover them?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: We're already seeing a decreased immunization rate.And when Secretary Kennedy says he wants to restore trust, the fact is that his activities over many years have been one of the main reasons there are questions about vaccines.

The reality is that, if there are lower vaccination rates, we will have more trouble controlling measles, which was eliminated in this country in the year 2000.

And we're now having more cases and more deaths than we have had in many years, and whooping cough, which is increasing.

The real concern here is that we're undermining, Secretary Kennedy is undermining and stopping a process that has been transparent, effective, and fact-based, and replacing it with we don't know what, but based on untrue statements, misinformation, and, frankly, fringe beliefs.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, put this move into the wider context of other actions Secretary Kennedy has taken.

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Well, we see on the one hand some of the things he's saying make a lot of sense initially, but then the next step is very unclear.

So he says, for example, that he wants to address chronic diseases, but then he eliminates the program at the CDC and cuts the program at the FDA that addressed tobacco control, which is the number one cause of chronic disease in the U.S.

He says that he wants to restore trust, and then he destroys or dismisses one of the most effective and trusted entities that has rigorously reviewed the facts and the science on vaccines.

It's clear that Secretary Kennedy has longstanding concerns about and beliefs about vaccines.

Those beliefs often are at odds with the facts.

And I'm afraid that that may well be what soon sets federal policy and determines who can get vaccinated and who can get reimbursed for getting vaccinated and who has to pay for their vaccines.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

On this larger issue of Americans who might be hesitant to trust public health information coming from the Trump administration moving forward, what credible alternative sources can Americans turn to?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: The American Academy of Pediatrics is a very strong organization.

They're pediatricians.

In fact, they were part of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that just got disbanded.

I think one of the things that we do have to address is, there are concerns.

Some of those concerns are always with vaccines.

Ever since vaccines were discovered, there have been concerns about them because you're giving something that's an injection usually to people who are healthy.

And so you want to make sure that it's really safe and really effective.

One of the things that does undermine trust is the very high price and the very large profits that the pharmaceutical companies are making from vaccines.

And, ironically, a lot of those vaccines were created with taxpayer dollars, with research that taxpayers funded, and then the companies are making really profiteering level profits, billions or tens of billions of dollars, from that.

And I think that does cause justifiable concern, outrage, and questions about whether decisions are being made effectively.

But this is the wrong place to try to fix them.

The ACIP was a bulwark against the inappropriate influence of some pharmaceutical industry.

And, instead, we have very idiosyncratic beliefs, inaccurate statements being made.

And I really worry about what advice doctors will be able to get from the federal government and be able to give to their patients so we can all protect ourselves and our families.

GEOFF BENNETT: Dr. Tom Frieden, president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, thanks again for being with us this evening.

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: India is one of the largest sources of immigrants to the United States, with nearly 150,000 people arriving each year.

While the vast majority of Indians arrive in the U.S. legally, an estimated 200,000 who are undocumented are now believed to be in the U.S.

Many come from relatively affluent regions of India, including the state of Punjab, where earlier this year several hundred deportees were returned on U.S. military aircraft.

From Punjab, Fred de Sam Lazaro filed this report.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Agriculture is the bread and butter of Punjab's economy, sustaining generations of farmers.

But across the landscape of wheat fields are billboards promising a different kind of abundance, life in Australia, the U.K., Canada, or, for many, the big prize, the USA.

And for families who have made it, it's shouted from the rooftop, literally in this case, with a tall replica Statue of Liberty.

With translator Gurpreet Singh (ph), I popped in on Shamsher Singh's home.

SHAMSHER SINGH, Resident of India (through translator): America, the name is so big here.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: He has a brother who has lived in America for 13 years, he told us.

SHAMSHER SINGH (through translator): Whenever we need something, if we want to buy some land, we ask for his help, and he helps us.

America is royalty.

And if our name is attached to the royalty that is Gods blessing.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Our nation is blessed to be home to millions of hardworking citizens of Indian and Southeast Asian heritage.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: For a half-century, legal immigration from Punjab and across India has grown steadily, especially since the 1990s.

The Hindu Festival of Lights, Deepavali, has been celebrated at the White House.

They've come from India's elite,doctors, scholars, and engineers, especially in the tech industry, entrepreneurs in hospitality and trucking, among other businesses.

MUZAFFAR CHISHTI, Senior Fellow, Migration Policy Institute: Overall, Indian migrants in the United States are now the second largest group of foreign-born people in the United States, after Mexicans, which is quite stunning.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Muzaffar Chishti is a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute at New York University Law School.

MUZAFFAR CHISHTI: About 81 percent have at least a college degree.

About 49 percent of Indian migrants in the United States have at least a master's degree, master's or doctorate.

So it's the highly educated, highly prosperous.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: And in the push-pull dynamic of migration, he says, the success of Indians abroad is a huge pull factor.

RAVINDER SINGH PANNU, Founder, Sur Sagar TV: It is embedded from your childhood.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Ravinder Pannu made it big in Canada as a telecom entrepreneur.

He now spends winters in a palatial home in his ancestral village surrounded by homes built with money earned abroad.

RAVINDER SINGH PANNU: That house where -- do you see the Indian flag?

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Yes.

RAVINDER SINGH PANNU: They live in America.

You name it, everywhere, you see that, that house, they live in Canada and America.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Pannu was born here, but his family has gone back and forth to North America, beginning with his grandfather, who emigrated to the West Coast in the early 1900s.

When people see a grand house like yours and your success, do you think that a lot of people say, I can be like him?

RAVINDER SINGH PANNU: But they don't think it took 40 years of my life to have a comfortable life here in India or in Canada.

So they don't see that.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: They just see your fancy house.

RAVINDER SINGH PANNU: Exactly.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: It's part of what fuels a thriving industry of irregular migration by people with marginal education and prospects in a country that, despite substantial economic growth, produces far fewer jobs than job seekers.

Many migrants have reached their destination, slipping in, overstaying tourist visas or, especially in recent years, filing claims for asylum from persecution back home.

MUZAFFAR CHISHTI: And once you apply for asylum, you have to be given the hearing.

And that hearing takes years now to be scheduled.

And during that time, you can -- you live in the U.S. lawfully and you're authorized to work lawfully.

That creates a magnet.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The Biden administration began to restrict the asylum option in 2024, deporting thousands after their claims were rejected.

But Chishti says the second Trump administration closed the asylum option completely and very visibly, shackled men perp-walked onto military aircraft, including this one that arrived in Punjab last February.

In general, people migrating from India with improper documents come from the lower middle class.

They are bombarded by advertising all around them and social media with images of a glamorous lifestyle abroad.

Many will borrow mortgage-size sums of money to pursue their dreams.

JITENDER SINGH, Deported Migrant (through translator): We gave 50 million rupees.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Thirty-three-year-old Jitender Singh's family sold land and jewelry to raise nearly $60,000 for an agent who promised him passage to the U.S.

He's hoped to find work in the trucking business, which employs some 150,000 members of the Sikh community, whose hallmark turbans stem from a belief system that forbids cutting one's hair.

Jitender made it no further than the border post in San Diego, where he was arrested, frisked, and, weeks later, sent home on that military aircraft.

JITENDER SINGH (through translator): I had to throw my turban in the dustbin.

There was nothing to comb my hair.

All the days we lived there, we lived in bad conditions.

We were handcuffed.

Our feet were chained for 40 hours of the flight.

RAJINDER KAUR, Mother of Deportee (through translator): We have only this home, this home which we built.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Jitender's mother, Rajinder Kaur, fears they will likely lose it to pay off their debt, victims of a thriving fraudulent travel business.

SONU SINGH, Social Worker Activist (through translator): They have offices everywhere.

They cheat people.

Then they send them abroad.

And they mislead the young people and show them dreams.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Sonu Singh is a local politician and social activist whom we accompanied as he visited a different victim family.

Daler Singh, disabled and unable to work and his wife, Nirmal, borrowed about $55,000 to send their only son, 22-year-old Harpreet, to America.

Instead of the straightforward journey he was promised, he hopscotched from Italy to Spain and across Central America, sleeping in the jungle, extorted at every stop.

HARPREET SINGH, Deported Migrant (through translator): When we reached Guatemala, they took our passports away.

Then they took our phones away.

Then they asked for more money from us.

Then, day by day, they decreased our food.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Six months after leaving India, he crossed into San Diego from Tijuana and in short order found himself on a much shorter journey home, deported on the February military plane to a bankrupted family.

DALER SINGH, Father of Deportee (through translator): We thought in, one year, we could return the money.

Now every day I get calls for money.

What will I respond?

SONU SINGH (through translator): I will go to the High Court.

I will get justice from the High Court.

We will try to help get people's money refunded, people suffering from fraud.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: He's filed dozens of cases so far, but it's a long shot in a justice system that moves slowly at best.

And, in a cruel irony, victims are reluctant to seek recourse against or refunds from traffickers.

NIRMAL SINGH, Mother of Deportee (through translator): The agent told us: "For the same money, I will send your son again if you don't file a case against me."

MUZAFFAR CHISHTI: This is a supply chain of corrupt practices.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: And New York University's Muzaffar Chishti says taking on the Whac-A-Mole global trafficking business is no easy task.

MUZAFFAR CHISHTI: There's not a big don sitting in California controlling this whole network.

So you can crack down what's happening to the chain of supply in India, but you may not be able to do that in the Darien Gap.

Some person just gets you for one part of the journey to the next, and then to the next, and someone gets you a visa.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: For now, deportee Jitender's family say they can only pray in thanks for his safe return and hope amid so much uncertainty for the future.

With few job prospects here and the persistent distorted images of glamour abroad, many experts say it will take time to see whether, how, or how deeply the Trump administration's message is resonating across the plains of Punjab.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Fred de Sam Lazaro near Amritsar, India.

AMNA NAWAZ: Fred's reporting is a partnership with the Under-Told Stories Project at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

American psychotherapist Majd Kamalmaz was one of half-a-dozen Americans detained and killed in Syria by Bashar al-Assad's regime.

He led an NGO that treated young victims of the war in Bosnia, the tsunami in Indonesia, and Hurricane Katrina.

In 2017, he traveled to Damascus to pay respects after his father-in-law's death.

He never came home.

Only last year, his family learned that he died in prison, but his body has not been found.

His daughter, Maryam Kamalmaz, recently met with the newly installed Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, to discuss not only her father, but other Americans who've disappeared in Syria.

And Maryam Kamalmaz joins me here.

Welcome.

Thanks for being here.

MARYAM KAMALMAZ, Daughter of Majd Kamalmaz: Thank you for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So I have to ask, because it was, as you mentioned, just over a year ago, that you received confirmation of your father's death from the U.S. government.

Just tell us what that year has been like and also why you wanted to meet with Ahmed al-Sharaa.

MARYAM KAMALMAZ: It's been a very -- a quiet year compared to my past years in the beginning.

Up until the prison doors of Syria were opened, we had been praying for this day to come, thinking maybe, just maybe, he's still alive and he could be one of these detainees walking out.

And we had a slight hopes that he could be.

And we ran into an individual that resembled him tremendously.

And we thought it could be him.

And I could not sleep the night just wishing and praying that it is him.

Unfortunately, then we learned the next day that this individual was picked up by his actual family.

We thought maybe under torture and being in such harsh conditions for a long time that his features have changed, but it wasn't him.

So that's actually the time that I really mourned his death.Seeing the images and the people that are coming out, I realized just to what extent the situation was and that he's really gone.

He didn't come out.

So that was the hardest.

AMNA NAWAZ: I'm so, so sorry.

MARYAM KAMALMAZ: Yes.

And thank you.

And I had actually booked my ticket to go to Syria to search for my father and see what I can find.

And the -- I asked them on the call, I said, well, I actually am going to Syria.

If anybody would like to send a message with me, I will try to do the best I can to have this delivered to the new government and as high up as I can.

And so the State Department then shared my e-mail with the families.

And some families sent me their letters.

And I took these letters and made it a priority to meet with Sharaa in order to give him these letters from the missing Americans that were lost in Syria.

And that's what led to my meeting with Sharaa.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tell me about that meeting.

Was there anything you were looking for in the way of answers about your father from him?

Were you able to get any of that information?

MARYAM KAMALMAZ: So, since they're really new, they have -- they were yet to establish a commission for the missing persons.

Unfortunately, there was nothing yet about my father.

Something that President Sharaa told me at the meeting is that they do plan to form a task force specifically for the missing Americans.

And... AMNA NAWAZ: Can I ask you, do you trust him?

Do you take him at his word?

Because we should remind people, al-Sharaa is a former al-Qaida insurgent, right?

He fought against U.S. forces in Iraq.

He was part of the rebel group that overthrew the Bashar al-Assad regime.

And he's now been recognized by the U.S., by President Donald Trump.

Do you trust him to lead Syria forward?

MARYAM KAMALMAZ: I never knew who he was before the liberation of Syria.

One thing that I did witness, obviously, we all witnessed it, is the way they liberated Syria.

They did it through the most peaceful way possible.

There was no civilian casualties.

They did it in such a peaceful way that it actually was so successful and so quick.

So it kind of led the way to believe that these individuals are really there to bring peace to the country.

And that was something that Sharaa repeated multiple times when we were in the meeting with him, that he wants peace for his country.

AMNA NAWAZ: I know.

That's what brought you here was meetings with lawmakers and others.

Do they have concerns about this path forward under President Sharaa?

Because there was, we should point out, some violence targeting some religious and ethnic minorities after this new government came to power.

Do people here have those concerns?

MARYAM KAMALMAZ: Yes, I have heard concerns about these specific situations, but I have to remind you that these specific situations did not start from the new government.

They were started by other groups that were trying to incite these clashes, and that even Sharaa himself told us he's not getting enough credit for him being able to quickly stop these clashes from happening.

AMNA NAWAZ: Maryam, I know you went to Syria looking for answers that you didn't get... but also carrying the message of so many others.

If there's an answer to this, what does justice even look like for you, for the tens of thousands of others who lost someone under the regime of Bashar al-Assad?

MARYAM KAMALMAZ: Right.

There's a tremendous amount of loss in Syria.

There's not a single door you will knock on that hasn't experienced at least one, two, or more deaths within their family.

So there's a great -- people are pushing for accountability, and they want to see that happen.

And those that are responsible for these crimes need to be brought to justice.

So I'm a true believer in this.

From my personal story with my father, we have now done the civil lawsuit against the Syrian regime.

And we're also continuing a criminal -- continuing into a criminal case against those that have done this as well.

So we're not stopping.

It's not over yet.

AMNA NAWAZ: Thank you so much for being here.

Once again, we're so sorry for your loss.

Maryam Kamalmaz, we appreciate your time.

MARYAM KAMALMAZ: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: At the end of March, President Trump signed an executive order accusing the Smithsonian Institution of promoting -- quote -- "narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive."

Since then, the leaders of the Smithsonian have been under the microscope.

Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown has more for our series Art in Action, exploring the intersection of art and democracy as part of our Canvas coverage.

JEFFREY BROWN: At the end of may, President Trump announced he was firing Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery, a Smithsonian museum.

In a TRUTH Social post, he accused her of being a highly partisan person and a strong supporter of DEI.

For now, though, Sajet remains in her job.

Yesterday, the Smithsonian's Board of Regents met and issued a statement declaring that all personnel decisions are made by and subject to the direction of Secretary Bunch, with oversight by the board, and that Bunch has the board's support.

But it also directed him to take steps to -- quote -- "ensure unbiased content" at Smithsonian museums.

And, for more, I'm joined by Philip Kennicott.

He's Pulitzer Prize-winning art and architecture critic for The Washington Post.

Thanks so much for joining us.

So, first, a backing of Lonnie Bunch, an assertion that the Smithsonian has the right to fire and hire people, that sounds to be like pushing back a bit against President Trump.

What do you make of it?

PHILIP KENNICOTT, The Washington Post: Yes, I think it's a diplomatic, but firm assertion of the prerogative of the secretary, Lonnie Bunch, to make the decision that the president was trying to make for him, which was to fire one of the top leaders of the Smithsonian.

JEFFREY BROWN: And so Kim Sajet's position as director of the National Portrait Gallery, where does that seem to stand?

PHILIP KENNICOTT: I think, for now, it's secure.

But the same statement also committed the Smithsonian to a very thorough overview of all of the content of its museums.

And it really depends on how that overview plays out.

If it plays out as the vice president, J.D.

Vance, suggests that he would like it to play out, looking for any signs of what the administration considers partisanship, then it's hard to see Kim Sajet's job can be preserved.

But if it's an honest and direct look using the usual standards the Smithsonian and other academic institutions have used for this kind of thing, then logically she really should be safe.

JEFFREY BROWN: Well, you mentioned Vice President Vance.

And we should say he sits on the Board of Regents.

So he was at that meeting yesterday.

What is known about his role and about what the administration is trying to say right now?

PHILIP KENNICOTT: Well, it was a closed-door meeting.

So what role he played within the meeting itself that, we don't know yet.

But he's been very critical of institutions like the Smithsonian.

He's been critical of foundations that support the humanities and historic research and universities.

So it's a reasonable guess that he is probably driving very hard for the president's stated opposition to the continuing service of Kim Sajet's in that role.

JEFFREY BROWN: Now, tell me more about Lonnie Bunch and the pressures he's been under that we have seen and where you see his position now.

Does he seem to be safe in his role?

PHILIP KENNICOTT: Lonnie Bunch has enormous credibility.

He was the man who brought the National Museum of African American History and Culture to fruition, which was a long and very complicated project.

He is a well-liked and well-respected secretary of the Smithsonian, but he is also a supporter of the Smithsonian's basic values.

And those are coming into conflict with the administration because, fundamentally, they define the process and doing of history very differently than people like Lonnie Bunch and most of the Smithsonian curators do.

JEFFREY BROWN: So as to the second part of the statement that came from the Smithsonian board yesterday, that Lonnie Bunch and the Smithsonian are instructed to ensure no bias,now, how do we read that?

How would they even take that?

PHILIP KENNICOTT: Well, I think basically what this does, it kicks the can down the road for an even more potentially problematic crisis a few months from now.

They're going to have to report back to the regents.

And, hopefully, that means reporting back to the president, because he's taken such a direct interest in this.

And they're going to have to defend the scholarship that they have done.

I think it's reasonable for an institution like the Smithsonian to periodically do an overview of its content.

And there's nothing strange or problematic about that.

But if this is done under pressure from the administration to find what they consider partisanship, not what Smithsonian considers partisanship, then I think the Smithsonian is going to be in a new crisis just a few months for now.

JEFFREY BROWN: Now, of course, this is not happening in a vacuum.

So put it in broader perspective.

We have seen, of course, as you well know, the president taking control himself of the Kennedy Center, firing the librarian of Congress, firing the head of the National Archives, many cuts to the NEA.

What's the larger context here?

PHILIP KENNICOTT: From all of those examples, it's becoming ever more clear that the administration isn't just pursuing the older conservative idea that the government shouldn't be supporting these institutions for financial reasons, they should be out of the business of giving to the NEA or the NEH.

Rather, this is about controlling the content.

We have seen the attacks on Harvard University and other universities.

We have seen the rescission of grant money.

And, finally, I think we should look forward to 2026, which is a big celebration, the 250th anniversary of the country, in which public history is going to be very much in the foreground.

And my sense is, the administration wants to control the telling of that history, and they want to move it away from the sort of objective inquiry that Smithsonian and places like Harvard have done and more towards a celebratory, hagiographic history that focuses on sort of American accomplishment and heroes.

JEFFREY BROWN: So coming back to the Smithsonian itself, what are you looking for next?

What do we watch for to know how this might play out?

PHILIP KENNICOTT: Well, simply by making the threat to fire Kim Sajet, the president has effectively put the entire Smithsonian on notice.

And I would argue he's put the whole museum sector on notice.

Any museum that is taking federal money or federal money derived from state money has got to be wondering, what's in it for us at this point with the administration watching so closely?

So the things I would be watching are the upcoming exhibitions and events, especially places like the National Portrait Gallery.

And that includes an exhibition of the African American artist Amy Sherald, who's been enormously successful and popular, and a triennial competition that the Smithsonian hosts for portraiture, which often gets a sharper-edged, more innovative, avant-garde crowd.

And that is likely to be something that brings it more directly into conflict.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Philip Kennicott of The Washington Post, thanks so much.

PHILIP KENNICOTT: Thanks for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that's the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank you for joining us.