Feed aggregator

White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel will begin assisting at airports but will not take on passenger screening duties, even as the effort ramps up to support strained Transportation Security Administration (TSA) operations.

Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Homan made clear that ICE agents will not be assigned to operate X-ray machines or conduct screenings. “Wherever we can provide extra security, I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine, because we’re not trained in that,” he told host Dana Bash.

Instead, he explained that ICE officers will step into other roles currently handled by TSA staff, allowing trained screeners to focus on their core responsibilities. “But there are certain parts of security that TSA is doing that we can move them off those jobs, and put them in the specialized jobs to help move those lines,” he added.

Earlier Sunday, President Trump announced on Truth Social that ICE agents would begin assisting TSA starting Monday, with Homan overseeing the effort. Homan said he is working alongside acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill to finalize the details. “We’ll have a plan by the end of today,” he said, adding that the strategy remains a “work in progress” and should focus first on airports experiencing the longest wait times.

The move comes as the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security approaches its 40th day, with TSA staffing shortages continuing to disrupt operations. A growing number of TSA employees have been calling out, leading to extended lines at airports across the country.

Some major hubs, including Philadelphia International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, have been forced to shut down certain security checkpoints due to insufficient staffing.

According to a statement released Tuesday by Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary of DHS, 366 TSA officers have left their positions since the shutdown began on Feb. 15. Workers received only partial pay late last month and went without pay entirely last week.

With ICE now stepping in to help, Homan emphasized that agents are already familiar with airport environments. “ICE agents are assigned at many airports across the country already,” he told Bash. “They do a lot of investigation, criminal investigation on smuggling at airports. But you got TSA agents covering exits, people that enter through the exits.”

He added that ICE officers could take over tasks like monitoring airport exits to prevent unauthorized entry, freeing TSA personnel to return to screening duties. “Certainly, a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit and makes sure people don’t go through those exits, entering the airport through the exits,” he said. “And stuff like that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines.”

Homan’s remarks appeared to differ from comments made by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who suggested that ICE agents may assist with screening-related functions. “They run those same type of security machines at the southern border, right?” Duffy said Sunday. “Packages come through or people come through. They run similar assets.”

“We have ICE agents who are trained and can provide assistance to agents,” he continued, adding that they would also help address long wait times.

In a separate interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Homan reiterated that ICE’s primary role will be to relieve TSA agents from secondary duties such as guarding exits, allowing them to focus on passenger screening.

The Hill has reached out to TSA, ICE, and the Department of Transportation for clarification on the scope of ICE’s involvement.

Homan also noted that ICE already conducts immigration enforcement at airports on a regular basis, and that aspect of its work will continue unchanged. However, he stressed that the current deployment is specifically intended to support TSA staff during the ongoing staffing crisis.

“This is about helping the men and women at TSA,” Homan said.

{Matzav.com}

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the passing of Reb Shmuel Beller z”l, a Holocaust survivor who endured the horrors of Auschwitz and the Death March, and who rebuilt his life with remarkable strength, becoming a shining example of emunah, simcha, and ahavas Yisroel.

Reb Shmuel was born on August 9, 1927, in Oświęcim, Poland—the very town that would later become known to the world as Auschwitz. It was a small town of approximately 6,000 residents. He grew up in modest conditions. His father, Reb Tzvi Beller, worked as a peddler selling fabrics across the border, while his mother, Chava (nee Goldstein) cared for the home. The family lived simply, in a small apartment without basic amenities. He had a younger brother and a younger sister, and the home, though materially limited, was rooted in Yiddishkeit.

As a child, he attended public school in the mornings, a co-ed institution under Catholic control, and spent his afternoons learning in the Dumbska yeshivah. That life came to an abrupt halt with the outbreak of the war, when the Nazis entered and took control of the town almost immediately.

Within a year, the family was uprooted from their home and sent to the Bedzin-Sosnowiec Ghetto. Living conditions were harsh and degrading. Jewish families were pushed out of proper housing and forced into cellars with dirt floors, while the Germans confiscated the better apartments.

Reb Shmuel’s father was taken away to a labor camp, leaving him to help support his mother and younger siblings. He was assigned work by the Jewish administration, employed by two German brothers who produced military uniforms. His days were split between cleaning their home and packing uniforms, all while living under constant fear and uncertainty.

As the war progressed, he was sent through a series of forced labor camps. In 1943, when he was slated for transport to Auschwitz, he went into hiding. When the Judenrat could not find him, they took his mother and siblings in his place. After two days in hiding, he emerged—only to narrowly miss that transport. Instead, he was sent to yet another labor camp.

Eventually, he was transferred to increasingly brutal conditions, including Blechhammer, the largest sub-camp of Auschwitz, where he remained for six months. From there, he was forced onto the infamous Death March.

Recounting those harrowing days, Reb Shmuel later described the brutal conditions:
“…Auschwitz they wouldn’t bomb because Roosevelt, Roosevelt, he gave orders not to bomb Auschwitz. After the war I found it out. I didn’t know then. This is something that the historian will tell. But in 1945, the Russians came from Warsaw, from the east, the British and the Americans were coming from the other side and we were like in the middle, so they started to evacuate from there. We went out about three thousand people from there. So they opened up all the ‘magazines’ – they had cloth, they had food. Whatever they had there, they opened them up, and we went in there, whoever was able to grab was able to grab…”

He described the desperate struggle to survive the freezing march, even down to the smallest details that meant the difference between life and death: “…So what I did, I put on two pairs of socks and one pair of socks I kept…Next morning, I put the socks that I had with me, I put them on the top and the other pair of socks I put on the bottom – they were a little wet – and the other socks which were more wet, I took on my body and dried it out…”

The march lasted for weeks under brutal conditions, with those unable to continue being shot on the spot. Reb Shmuel recalled: “…And whoever wasn’t able to walk, he fell down, they shot him on the spot, on the street…”

At one point, risking his life, he slipped into a bakery while passing through a village and grabbed bread, an act that sustained him for a time and helped him continue.

After weeks of marching, the prisoners were packed into cattle cars, 80 to 100 people ,crammed into each wagon without food or proper shelter. They were transported under horrific conditions, including stops at camps such as Gross-Rosen, where prisoners endured prolonged roll calls in freezing weather, beatings, starvation, and constant terror.

He described the unimaginable suffering:“…we had to stay from four o’clock in the morning to maybe ten o’clock at night. If somebody moved, they shot him or they beat him. No food, no sleeping, no nothing…”

Eventually, he was transported toward Buchenwald. Along the way, during an Allied bombing, the guards fled, and prisoners scattered. Reb Shmuel found sugar in an abandoned home—another small but critical moment of survival. “…this survived me for awhile because sugar gives strength…”

He was later liberated by American soldiers, who opened the cattle cars and declared, “You are free.” At that time, he was gravely ill with typhus and spent three months hospitalized recovering.

After the war, he was sent to a camp known as “Fenvelt,” where he lived among Hungarian boys who had arrived later and retained their Yiddishkeit. These boys had a profound impact on him, helping bring him back to a life of Torah and mitzvos. They even brought him to the Klausenberger Rebbe, helping rekindle his connection to Yiddishkeit after all he had endured.

He later spent time in a Displaced Persons camp before eventually emigrating to the United States, where he resumed his learning in yeshivah, determined to rebuild what had been destroyed.

Reb Shmuel ultimately settled in Flatbush, where he became known as a vibrant, warm, and energetic Yid whose presence uplifted all those around him. He was deeply devoted b’lev v’nefesh to the bais medrash of Rav Spector zt”l on Avenue S and East 7th Street, attending davening in all conditions and doing whatever he could to support and strengthen the shul.

His home was a place of simcha, chinuch, and genuine Torah values—a home filled with mentchlichkeit, warmth, and care. Those who knew him saw a man who, despite all he had endured, radiated life, joy, and love for every fellow Yid.

To witness a person who went through such darkness and emerged as an extraordinary eved Hashem, filled with ahavas Yisroel, love of mitzvos, and a deep appreciation for life, was to see the power of a Yiddishe neshomah. With tremendous siyata diShmaya, and with the support of his devoted eizer kenegdo, he rebuilt, creating a legacy of strength, faith, and unwavering dedication to Torah.

He is survived by his devoted children: Mr. Heshy Beller, Mrs. Chavi Greenstein, R’ Mayer Beller, and Ms. Lila Beller. The family will be sitting shivah in Monsey at 140 Horton Drive.

The levaya will be held at 10 a.m. this morning at Shomrei Hadas Chapels in Boro Park.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s ambassador to the United States said Sunday that growing unrest inside Iran could ultimately lead to the collapse of the Islamic Republic, arguing that the Iranian people themselves may rise up against the regime.

Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Ambassador Michael Leiter suggested that any meaningful change on the ground would need to come from within Iran. “I think that we need boots on the ground, but they have got to be Iranian boots, and I think they’re coming,” Leiter said.

He pointed to recent unrest as a sign of deeper dissatisfaction among the population, saying, “probably it’s going to take place, because the Iranian people have had enough. They tried to raise up last month. They were brutally put down.”

Leiter compared the current situation to past historical upheavals, noting that major regime changes often come unexpectedly. “There’s a point of combustion. Look, nobody knew when the Soviet Union would collapse. Nobody knew when the Romanians would turn their guns against their Ceausescu government. But it happened at some point. And if we degrade them enough, the people of Iran are going to say we have had enough and we want a different regime.”

He emphasized that the current focus should remain on weakening Iran’s leadership to the point where it can no longer maintain control. “what we have to focus on now is degrading [Iran] to the point where they have no power left in this regime. Hopefully, that will trigger this combustion point where the people are able to take charge of their own lives. Our focus has to be on degrading this regime to the point where they no longer pose a threat to us, to the region and to the world.”

Leiter also warned about the dangers posed by Iran’s military capabilities and regional influence, stressing the urgency of preventing further escalation. “we cannot allow this regime to move forward with nuclear weapons, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and terrorists spreading throughout the region,” he said.

He concluded by underscoring the broader threat posed by Iran’s leadership, adding that “we cannot live anymore with a country that is malign, that has intent on destroying us, that declares it’s going to destroy us all the time and is now firing ballistic missiles into all of its neighbors. This has to stop.”

{Matzav.com}

Iran’s foreign minister said Sunday that Tehran will not yield to pressure, pushing back against an ultimatum from President Donald Trump demanding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz or facing potential U.S. strikes on Iranian power facilities.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded in a social media post, insisting that the waterway remains open and placing blame for disruptions on the current conflict. “Strait of Hormuz is not closed. Ships hesitate because insurers fear the war of choice you initiated – not Iran,” Araghchi wrote.

He continued with a pointed message toward Washington, stating, “No insurer – and no Iranian – will be swayed by more threats. Try respect. Freedom of Navigation cannot exist without Freedom of Trade. Respect both – or expect neither.”

The remarks followed a statement from President Trump a day earlier, in which he gave Iran a 48-hour deadline to fully reopen the strategic passage or face military consequences targeting its energy infrastructure.

“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” the President wrote in a post on Truth Social.

In response, Iranian officials issued their own warning, saying that any attack on the country’s energy systems would trigger a broad strike against American and Israeli assets throughout the region.

“If Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked by the enemy, all energy, information technology, and desalination infrastructure belonging to the United States and the (Israeli) regime in the region will be targeted,” a spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in remarks carried by Iran’s Fars news agency.

Meanwhile, President Trump indicated Friday that U.S. forces are nearing their objectives in the ongoing campaign against what he called the “terrorist regime of Iran,” suggesting that operations could soon begin to wind down.

His comments came shortly after he told reporters he is not seeking a ceasefire at this stage of the conflict.

“I don’t want to do a ceasefire. You know you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side,” he said.

Several ambulances belonging to Hatzolah Northwest were set ablaze outside a shul in London’s Golders Green neighborhood early Monday morning, in what is being treated as a likely antisemitic attack.

Security camera footage shared with CNN shows three masked individuals approaching a Hatzolah Northwest ambulance and deliberately setting it on fire. The timestamp on the footage reads 1:36 a.m. Monday, and the location is identified as Machzikei Hadath, the name of the adjacent shul.

BREAKING: Video shows 3 hooded men poor gas, ignite the blaze and flee the scene of a massive Hatzolah ambulance arson attack in Golders Green, London. pic.twitter.com/STpJojH7tz

— KolHaolam (@KolHaolam) March 23, 2026

A local resident, Charlie Richards, told CNN that she heard “multiple explosions since 2:00 a.m.” Footage she recorded captured a large burst of orange flames followed by thick smoke rising into the sky.

Golders Green, known for its large and established Jewish community, is home to numerous shuls, mosdos, and kosher establishments, making the incident particularly disturbing for local residents.

London’s fire services confirmed to CNN that crews responded to an incident in the Golders Green area. A spokesperson said that at this stage they could not verify the cause of the fire or confirm whether an explosion had taken place.

The attack comes amid a noticeable increase in antisemitic incidents across London in recent years. Just last month, a Jewish-owned bakery was vandalized following a pro-Palestinian Arab protest in which the business was accused of “funding Israel.”

In December, anti-Israel demonstrators targeted another bakery in London owned by Israelis.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2035904750181314663

In November, police were forced to relocate an anti-Israel protest away from St. John’s Wood shul after dozens of protesters gathered outside.

A month earlier, an Israeli academic delivering a lecture at City St. George’s, University of London, had his class disrupted when anti-Israel activists stormed the room, shouting accusations and issuing threats.

{Matzav.com}

WATCH:

LISTEN:

​​For more info, email bitachon4life@gmail.com.

LISTEN: