Last month, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin floated removing Customs and Border Protection officers from airports in sanctuary cities. That way, international travelers would not be able to fly to these airports. At the time he suggested that since Democrats were refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security, they should not benefit from it.
We’re just learning that Mullin met with airline and travel executives last week.
- He told them he’s serious about the plan to pressure sanctuary cities by cutting passenger and cargo screening at international airports
- This would happen after World Cup, which runs Jun 11, 2026 – Jul 19, 2026
This policy would most likely cover New York JFK; Los Angeles; Chicago O’Hare; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Seattle; Denver; Boston; Portland and Newark. And it would effectively mean an end to all international flights at affected airports.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy – who saved us from an illegal taxpayer bailout of Spirit Airlines – appears to be fighting this. He correctly says,
We shouldn’t shut down air travel in a state that doesn’t agree with our politics.
The Markwayne Mullin plan is literally insane. And that has nothing to do with what you think of sanctuary cities (which mostly amounts to signaling).
- The ‘airports’ frequently aren’t even in the same jurisdiction as so-called sanctuary cities. Washington, D.C. is a sanctuary city, but its airport (Washington National) is in Arlington, Virginia with no Federal Inspection facility. That facility is much further out at Dulles (Dulles, Virginia). San Francisco International Airport is actually in unincorporated San Mateo County, adjacent to Millbrae and San Bruno, not in the City and County of San Francisco. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is actually in SeaTac, Washington.
And major airports like LAX (Los Angeles) and JFK (New York City) serve broad areas far beyond the cities with which they’re associated. People in Riverside, San Berndino and Orange County are flying non-stop to Los Angeles.
- Customs is not a ‘service for the city’ these are U.S. borders. Inspection is not processing people into a city, it is processing entry into the United States regardless of final destination. These hub airports are convenient ways to get to Red States! People from elsewhere in the country are connecting beyond Los Angeles. They still have to clear customs at places like LAX and Chicago. None of this is a municipal privilege.
- Attempts to punish lawful activity. The administration may disagree with the idea of sanctuary cities (which is not a legal category, but we’ll use it here even though it condenses a wide range of policies), but these policies generally mean local officials limit how much they help enforce federal immigration law. Congress lacks the power to issue orders directly to the states (this is known as ‘anti-commandeering’). The federal government can, to some extent, penalize non-cooperation but it cannot directly order state and local compliance.
- Customs regulations actually lay out the criteria for where to deploy and that doesn’t include local officials made us mad The regulations lay out need, suitability, facilities, and usefulness as reasons. Withdrawal is based on business volume, inadequate facilities, noncompliance with federal rules, or another location being more useful.
- Doesn’t even target punishment at their enemies If the complaint is that local police or jails will not help ICE, then isn’t shutting down the federal inspection point at the airport and pulling officers a self-own? It certainly doesn’t punish the decision-makers, it targets returning U.S. citizens, lawful travelers, airlines, airport workers, tourism, cargo shippers, and everyone trying to move through a legal port of entry. And even in blue cities and states a substantial plurality are the President’s supporters, too.
- Undermines the economy which, by the way, primarily hurts Republicans in the midterms. The Port of Los Angeles supports millions of jobs and handles about 31% of all U.S. containerized international shipping. Southern California cargo is crucial for the national economy, for exporters, workers, retailers, and consumers all over the country.
- What even happens to airline schedules? International arrivals have to be at an airport with a Federal Inspection Station. So flights bound for JFK, LAX, Chicago O’Hare, et al have to go where exactly? And with fuel prices high, probably nowhere? And without international connecting traffic, what do airlines do with connecting flights that are supported by those passengers? Are we heading back to another airline subsidies regime to counteract the damage?
I don’t think I can reasonably be described as part of the left. In fact, I was once erroneously introduced on Fox News as the author of View From The Right Wing. But this is not a smart suggestion even by the DHS Secretary’s own goals and priorities. And here some of you thought that the departure of Kristi Noem from DHS would mean a more serious policy regime. That appears to have been mistaken.
Yikes!
Just yikes!
reap what you sow
This kind of frap is a great reason for every airline and cargo company to put every filler available into defeating every Republican this fall and putting all of them in the No Fly List for each airline
Sorry for the typos. Every dollar available and put them on their no fly list
What do you say to the 25 or so International foreign airlines that have rights to land in ORD at certain time when you can’t process their passengers?
Then what do you do when those airlines tell you that the USA airlines can’t land in their countries until the matter is resolved.
Never underestimate the ignorance of the sole US Senator without a college degree to fail at critical thinking skills, let alone politics getting in the way of reason.
The Atlantic article this afternoon cites two sources at the meeting said he “may reduce staffing” – which is different from “eliminate.”
It also says “the locations could include Portland International Airport, in Oregon; New York City–area airports such as John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport; and Washington Dulles International Airport”
A more narrow list than all sanctuary cities though doesn’t rule out others. Still a difficult position to consider.
Elect stupid. Expect stupid. Get stupid. I really, really, really hope they do this, asap.
While they’re at it, they should add DCA to the list since that would eliminate one of the barriers to The Arch de Moron being constructed.
This is 100% performative and has 0% chance of surviving a court challenge.
That said I guess ATL, DFW & IAH would survive?
@ 30west — I thought Mulin had a PhD from The Idiot’s University?
Maybe, just maybe that will get United to remember that they have a hub in DEN and international flights are allowed to takeoff from DEN.
As a friend said, the administration has a laugh running in the background. This idea is right up there with Mr. Kennedy’s brilliant public health ones.
This administration following the abuser’s playbook, yet again: “Look what you made me do…”
Intentionally creating dysfunctional, understaffed border crossings at any American city/airport doesn’t project ‘greatness’ to foreign visitors. Crippling our own national infrastructure to punish political opponents is a dangerous precedent.
So, what can/should blue states/cities do? Well, I’d say, fight the bullies. Don’t be Neville Chamberlain. We have real economic power and cultural influence.
Because, otherwise, surrendering a constitutional right under the Tenth Amendment just to stop a lawless threat doesn’t buy peace; it just proves that economic hostage-taking works. If cities fold on local autonomy today to save their airports, the administration will just target the next vital piece of infrastructure tomorrow. You don’t stop an abuser by capitulating.
@Boraxo — Hope so, or this administration really learned nothing from their overreach and failure in Minneapolis.
@Gene — Sun Tzu: “Never interrupt your opponent while he is in the middle of making a mistake.” Also: “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” But, I do tend to prefer the meme-version: “It is only when mosquito land on your balls that you realize there is a way to solve problems without using violence…”
It would be a very bad idea, but it will not happen.
This is another political stunt by MM.
It’s not going to happen. There’s a segment of the population that would like this. He’s just performing for them.
@gene
Very funny PHD
I’d love to see this happen. Republicans fly too, and ruining all of their summer vacations right before an election might cause some of them to reconsider being members of what, at this point, is essentially a cult.
This admin has a bunch of clowns and then some stars like Rubio. Last time around they had more stars. They should get rid of the clowns and get business done which helps everyone.
DHS has real statutory discretion over ports of entry, but discretion is not a roving license to punish disfavored jurisdictions. The governing regulation allows the Secretary to establish, consolidate, or discontinue customs ports “as operational needs may require,” but not as leverage to coerce local police into federal immigration work. San Francisco v. Trump, Chicago v. Barr, NFIB, Murphy, and the Ninth Circuit’s SB 54 decision all point the same way: the Executive may not commandeer state and local governments, may not invent conditions Congress did not impose, and may not use otherwise lawful federal authority for an arbitrary, retaliatory, or pretextual purpose. I would expect immediate APA and constitutional challenges if anything like this were to actually happen. And I certainly would not bet on DHS surviving them.
@Common Sense — Finally, some better sense from Common Sense!
(Though, Rubio does have +7 jobs already… isn’t he, like, the unofficial presidente of Venezuela, too?)
Customs is a Federal function. So are they saying that the federal government isn’t paying attention to immigration at these airports now and letting undocumented people in through airports? Doesn’t that make the Trump administration the problem?
The stupidity of this regime is only outdone by the stupidity of this regime.
It is sadly going to take us a generation to recover from the damage done to this country (and our standing internationally) once the Orange Shitler finally chokes on his last BigMac and heads down the escalator along with his Slovenian prostitute (which hopefully will stop short and cause them to trip and stumble) into his final resting place in the third ring of hell.
Let’s just seal our borders completely and finally admit we’re not all that different from North Korea with our foam-at-the-mouth xenophobia.
And will likely get fired for it.
And the corruption of this administration just keeps on getting worse…
Just FYI. SFO is on land within the city of SF. It’s just annexed from the rest of the city. When you enter SFO you are in the county and city of SF. Just like there is a tiny spot on the alameda runways that is SF land.
Doing it after the World Cup is a joke because no one is coming to watch it (and most Americans don’t care). Even some teams are boycotting it. I hope they do it because until the cult members actually feel the pain of their decisions, nothing will change.
Mullin thinks they can just shift all the flights to Tulsa and Oklahoma City!
Duffy actually said something sane. He will be out of a job soon. I guess I’m naive. Every day I think I’ve seen the worst yet from this syndicate running/ruling/ruining the country, but each day tops the one before. Last time I was in Africa, an African told me, “He is just like our African dictators.” Actually most African dictators do undertake some projects to benefit their people. Ours is only out to benefit himself and his cronies.
that’s your evil government a work; the Naziis were more principled than these creeps.
IMO, this is mostly performative. The Administration will pick a couple international airports associated with a sanctuary city located in the jurisdiction of a conservative Federal Court circuit. Perhaps the targets will be cities dependent on tourism. They’ll decrease Customs staffing (rather than close down the port of entry) in order to degrade the traveller experience. At a minimum this will appeal to the Administration’s base and will create anxiety and discord among their opponents, and at best the affected city may quietly stop punishing police officers who help ICE. It will be noisy but will have minimal impact.
If LAX was shut out of international flights I am sure Ontario would accommodate some of them.
@Dave S
As much as you and your African friend would like to believe Trump is no dictator. Remember the government has shut down twice since his administration began. A true dictator would never allow that.
“The federal government can, to some extent, penalize non-cooperation”
Yep, so that’s what this is. The goal is to enforce existing federal law that was democratically agreed upon. What happened to saving our democracy? Oh I get it, by democracy you meant democrats.
They are also endangering the lives of their own idiot leftist voters by releasing violent criminals onto the streets just so the feds can’t get them.
This is not an ideal solution, obviously it comes with costs, but it’s a short term gambit and not a long term plan…the goal again is not to shut down airports but to stop the lawlessness in blue cities.
@derek M
Of course you would side with the Nazis, they were after all socialists. Fascism is left wing, a branch of socialism. We on the right believe in free markets, small government, and liberty… everything you and the Nazis hated. The Nazi party name translated to national socialist German worker party. Sounds like democrats would love them.
Never trust a man with two first names.
The post is pretty good. The comment section is a sewer. so, Consider the above my contribution.
But seriously, when did “we are the party of border enforcement and we are going to not staff the border” become the quality of public dialogue in this country? I’m OK with not having to go through customs on the way back home. It makes flying into JFK civil. Honestly, being able to travel without all the security theater would be heavenly. I miss it.
Good article Gary but you should follow up with possible solutions. Working against lawful immigration control should include all parties.
Richard
@ Richard — Remember that bipartisan bill on immigration that The Idiot blocked so that we could continue his anti-immigrant fear-mongering. The Republicans obviously would rather send immigrants to concentration camps than have them pick their vegetables.
Party of “small government” strikes again!
@Gene
Yet fails to mention that Slo Joe Biden had the House and Senate for his first two years and we see what kind of immigration, border, and security policies they wanted. Basically none. With regards to concentration camps, this is nothing but a Demo talking point. Look at the concentration camps from WW2 with over 6 million Jews killed and compare that to your silly talking point.
@ Brent – “Never trust a man with two first names.”
Why? You’re a weirdo.
The most incompetent, corrupt administration EVER.
@Gene, @Brent — Thank you both for keeping it real on here.
@Mantis — Holy etymological fallacy, Batman! Next, will you claim the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) is a democracy because “Democratic” is in its name? Pathetic.
@Coffee Please — Woah there, Mr. Strawman. There is no all-or-nothing definition of a “true dictator.” Dictatorial power is a spectrum, and authoritarian regimes frequently experience internal gridlock, administrative paralysis, economic collapses, or institutional resistance, especially when operating within an existing constitutional framework they are attempting to navigate or alter.
You’re attempting to create a false binary: In your world, a leader must have absolute, flawless control, or they have no dictatorial or authoritarian tendencies whatsoever; but, in reality, a leader can exhibit authoritarian behavior, challenge democratic norms, and/or attempt to consolidate power, all while still being restricted by a ‘constitution.’ See Putin, Erdoğan, Orban, Duterte. Thankfully, the last two are now out.
@Mike Hunt — With an alias like “Mike Hunt”… you’re calling others ‘weirdo’… bah!
JFK
EWR
LGA
LAX
ORD
MDW
SFO
DEN
PHL
SEA
PDX
MSY
ABQ
ROC
LAN
SFO
OAK
BWI *
IAD *
I wonder if starting out with the largest sanctuary cities customs and the smallest sanctuary cities customs would be more effective of rather than hitting them all at once.
Or maybe start with the smallest and work it’s way up or the largest and work it’s way down, one new city every week so airlines will have time to rebook.
Gene fails to mention that the SLO Joe admin had the House and Senate for his first two years. We saw then the Democrats position on Immigration, Border Control, and Security. Now with the other talking point “Concentration Camps”. Show me ovens, starvation, firing squads, etc. The Nazi’s killed six million. More Demo BS
@Coffee Please — Classic moving the goalposts. You’re confusing a concentration camp with an extermination camp. Dachau opened in 1933 as a place for mass detention without trial; the gas chambers and industrial slaughter didn’t begin until 1941. I sure hope the US is not running literal death camps, so demanding ‘ovens’ to prove mass detention exists is yet another straw man.
Also, claiming the last administration had absolute power in their first two years ignores the math of a 50-50 Senate and the 60-vote filibuster, which legally prevented unilateral immigration reform. C’mon, man. This isn’t Fox News on here.
@KlimaBXsst — Are you even based in the US? That’d harm everyone, not just ‘blue’ cities.
@ Coffee Please — If Hotel Idiot is so comfy, how ’bout you go stay there are bring us back photos.
You got nothing Gene but Demo fear driven talking points.. Now go torch a Tesla or burn down a city.
I’ve come to expect monumentally stupid decisions as simply the norm from this administration but even by their standards this is truly breathtaking. Just saying this policy out loud lowers the IQ in the room by 20 points.
I am so sick of the craziness in the USA. If the administration halts international traffic from ANY of these airports, it will be Lunacy! Very very sad.
I don’t see the problem. There are already international flights to those cities, so people flying and arriving. If the DHS wants to abrogate its responsibility to screen inbound passengers, so be it.
I think no border controls in sanctuary cities would speed up transfers and make those ports more appealing…