As the nation’s new Homeland Security secretary, Markwayne Mullin is responsible both for immigration enforcement and airport security. He is publicly considering a new plan that would combine the two functions of his agency — and potentially upend global air travel.
During an interview Tuesday with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Mullin said the agency is “drawing up” plans that would halt the processing of international travelers at airports in some “sanctuary cities.” This could prevent international travel to major airports in cities like New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Mullin said recent clashes between law enforcement and protesters at Delaney Hall, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Newark, New Jersey, justify the airport diversion.
“They’re barricading our employees from coming in and out of the facility,” Mullin told Hannity. “Then, why are we processing international flights into the airport there? And I, we are currently … drawing up plans to say, listen, these sanctuary cities where the local radical-left Democrats aren’t allowing us to do our jobs and enforce federal laws, then we shouldn’t be processing international flights into their cities, either.
“Because they don’t want us to enforce immigration, but they want us to process immigration at their facilities,” he added. “Nothing about that makes sense to me.”
It is not clear how far along Mullin’s planning process is, or whether he would have the backing of President Donald Trump. Nor is it known whether Mullin could unilaterally suspend customs and other functions at airports.
However, airline industry executives object to Mullin’s idea. And a fellow Cabinet member, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, recently spoke out against the concept.
“We have people from around the world and around the country that need to be able to fly into all different kinds of places,” Duffy said at a House Budget Committee hearing last Thursday. “We shouldn’t shut down air travel in a state that doesn’t agree with our politics.”
On X, Juliette Kayyem, a former Department of Homeland Security official who worked in the Obama administration, said Mullin’s plan would not improve immigration enforcement.
“Of all the bad ideas floated by this Administration, this one ranks,” Kayyem wrote. “It has got to be real; Mullin wouldn’t waste time like this unless it is a serious distraction plan. Planes don’t divert to other airports. The flights will be canceled, disrupting blue and red voters, impacting the airlines, and having no impact on immigration policy.”
Major travel expected soon
Mullin’s announcement couldn’t have come at a more stressful time for America’s airport infrastructure, as millions are expected to travel to the U.S. for the FIFA World Cup next month. Airports in some of the cities where matches are scheduled are among those targeted by Mullin.
For example, games will take place in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, a few miles from Newark Liberty International. Newark and two other airports in the New York metropolitan area, John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia, processed about 50 million international flyers last year.
Previous comments by Mullin about sanctuary cities have already prompted negative reactions from the travel industry. Last week, industry analysts warned of “devastating consequences” after Mullin threatened to pull Customs and Border Protection officers from airports in “sanctuary cities,” The Independent reported.
“U.S. Travel believes such a move would have devastating consequences for the travel industry and communities that depend on international visitation,” the U.S. Travel Association told the outlet in a statement.
Heightened tensions amid protests
Mullin’s comments came after a weekend of high tension at the Newark immigration detention center, as hundreds of detainees went on a hunger strike to protest what they called inhumane conditions. Detainees said ICE guards weren’t giving them enough food or medical care at the facility. Inmates also alleged that guards were subjecting them to physical and psychological torture.
Democratic lawmakers have visited the facility to call attention to the allegations, and authorities have used nonlethal projectiles to disperse protesters. Last weekend, Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., was hit by a pepper ball during a protest.
“What we saw here is unfortunately just what we see all over the country,” Kim said. “It’s sad, it’s a sad day.”
Homeland Security described the protest as a “smear campaign.”
“This is nothing more than a political stunt by New Jersey sanctuary politicians for fundraising clicks,” acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. “There is NO hunger strike at Delaney Hall. There are NO subprime conditions or abuse at the facility.”
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