WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin doubled down Tuesday on threats to halt immigration and customs processing at international airports in New York, New Jersey and other jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with his department.
Mullin told Fox News host Sean Hannity that federal immigration agents have no obligation to assist in the customs process if so-called “sanctuary” jurisdiction officials won’t let “the worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens be deported.
“They’re barricading our employees from coming in and out of the facility, then why are we processing international flights into the airport there?” asked Mullin on “Hannity.”
“We are currently drawing up plans to say, ‘Listen, in these sanctuary cities where the local radical left Democrats aren’t allowing us to do our job 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,’” added the DHS boss.
Up to 50 million international passengers came through JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International airports in 2025.
Mullin has pushed for the policy over the objections of airline industry executives and trade associations — as well as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“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.”
The US Travel Association and Airlines for America have also panned the proposal, which also would stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement from processing international travelers at airports in Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.
In Newark, anti-ICE protesters have been blockading Delaney Hall detention center — and clashing with federal agents — for several days to protest allegedly poor conditions inside the facility.
Both Mullin and border czar Tom Homan have denied mistreatment of any migrants at the 1,000-bed center.
“FACT CHECK: there is NO HUNGER STRIKE at Delaney Hall. There are no subprime conditions,” DHS posted Tuesday on X.
“ALL detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, toiletries, and opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers.”
Homan did caution that the Trump administration would seek a court order to force feed detainees if they started such a strike.
The border czar also indicated that the Trump administration would soon be operating government-owned detention centers on federal land to avoid clashes with local jurisdictions.
Those states, cities and localities that have refused to cooperate with federal immigration authorities have often ignored so-called “detainer” requests to hold criminal illegal immigrants so they can be arrested and deported.
