NPR News: 03-22-2026 9PM EDT

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst.

President Trump is sending federal immigration agents to U.S. airports starting tomorrow

as the Transportation Security Administration faces staffing issues from the partial government

shutdown that's now in its fifth week.

And peers Luke Garrett has more.

Trump's borders are, Tom Homan is in charge of the ICE deployments to U.S. airports.

On Sunday morning, Homan told CNN he doesn't have a finalized plan yet.

It's a work in progress, but we will be at airports tomorrow helping TSA move both lines

along.

Homan said he expects ICE agents to guard entries and exits at the nation's busiest

airports.

I don't see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine because you're not trained in

that.

While their goal is to help TSA move passengers through security lines, Homan said ICE will still

enforce immigration laws at U.S. airports.

TSA security wait times have increased as more agents call out sick or quit.

Most TSA officers have worked without pay during the Department of Homeland Security shut

down.

Luke Garrett and PR News, Washington.

Iran is threatening to escalate strikes in U.S. and Israeli infrastructure in the region

along with crucial water desalination facilities.

If President Trump goes through on his threat last night to quote obliterate Iran's power

plants, if the country doesn't open the strait of Hormuz.

Iran's effect will be blocked the straits since the U.S. and Israel war started.

Meanwhile, in Israel, officials are assessing the damage after Iranian air strikes last

night on two cities in the south near Israel's nuclear research center.

More than 100 people were wounded, residential buildings were damaged.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the attack shows Iran endangers the entire

world.

Luckily no one was killed, but that's due to luck.

Not their intention.

Their intention is to murder civilians.

Second, they are using, they fired on Jerusalem right next to the holy sites of the three monotheistic

face.

The western wall, the church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Al-Aqsa mosque.

The UN's nuclear agency says there are no reports of damage to Israeli nuclear facilities.

Retailers are predicting strong sales growth, fueled in part by tax refunds and the forecast

of a cooldown in inflation.

The nation's top retail trade group is forecasting that spending at stores and restaurants will

go 4.4 percent this year and pierce Alina Seljuk reports.

The National Retail Federation says this growth will be greater than the recent years or

the years before the pandemic.

The forecast counts on a slight boost from tax cuts at the start of the year.

It also predicts that inflation might ease in the second half of the year.

The group acknowledged that it's not considering any potential fallout of the war in Iran, including

the impact on shipping or gas prices.

Chief economist Mark Matthews says the retail group is still optimistic that the resilient

American consumer and, quote, the underlying fundamentals of the U.S. economy will support

continued stability in the year ahead.

Alina Seljuk and Bear News, Washington, you're listening to NPR News.

The Supreme Court hears arguments tomorrow on mail-in ballots.

The case involves Mississippi's allowance of a grace period for accepting ballots that

are postmarked on election day but arrive later.

It was brought by President Trump's allies who want to bar mail-in voting, except in

certain cases such as illness or military service.

Trump has claimed without citing evidence that the practice allows fraud in elections.

Project Hail Mary, a feel-good film about a space voyage blasted off its cinemas this

weekend and Pierce Bob Mondello has more.

The story of an alien encounter during a long-shot trip to save the Earth from extinction seems

to be morphing into a tool to save Hollywood from extinction.

Project Hail Mary will take in more than $80 million in North America this weekend, easily

the best opening of 2026.

It's also doing extremely well overseas.

Its worldwide total through Sunday night will top $140 million.

You as futures contracts are trading lower at this hour, Dow futures down about to tens