{"id":920,"date":"2026-05-31T23:37:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T23:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=920"},"modified":"2026-05-31T23:37:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T23:37:56","slug":"pulling-customs-from-sanctuary-city-airports-would-cause-chaos-business-groups-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=920","title":{"rendered":"Pulling customs from \u2018Sanctuary\u2019 city airports would cause chaos, business groups say"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON \u2014 Travel industry and business leaders are denouncing a proposal by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to remove customs officers from airports in liberal cities, saying it would create havoc for travelers and jeopardize the travel economy at some of the nation\u2019s largest ports of entry.<\/p>\n

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The idea, which Mullin has floated on cable television interviews, is designed to punish so-called sanctuary cities that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.<\/p>\n

Customs officers monitor goods flowing in and out of the country and must be on hand for international flights. Removing customs from airports would mean they cannot accept incoming international flights.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny reduction in Customs and Border Protection operations at major U.S. gateway airports threatens to cause unnecessary chaos throughout the nation\u2019s air transportation system,\u201d a coalition of travel and business trade groups, including the U.S. Travel Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, wrote in a statement Friday. The fallout of making such changes at even a handful of gateway airports, the statement added, \u201cwill quickly ripple across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, also told lawmakers that such a move would be ill-advised.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have people from around the world and around the country that need to be able to fly into all different kinds of places,\u201d he said during a hearing before a House Appropriations subcommittee. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t shut down air travel in a state that doesn\u2019t agree with our politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House, despite past efforts to target sanctuary cities over their immigration policies, has not endorsed Mullin\u2019s plans. The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the idea, beyond pointing to Mullin\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n

But as the criticism has mounted, Mullin has only dug in on the proposal.<\/p>\n

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Mullin promoted the idea multiple times last week, saying in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday that the department was drawing up plans to withdraw officers who process international flights in cities where \u201clocal radical left Democrats aren\u2019t allowing us to do our job and enforce federal laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be processing international flights into their cities either,\u201d Mullin said. \u201cThey don\u2019t want us to enforce immigration but they want us to process immigration at their facilities? Nothing about that makes sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next day, Mullin claimed during an interview with Newsmax that local law enforcement in New Jersey refused to respond after federal officials requested help following the eruption of protests outside an immigrant detention facility in Newark. Mullin held up that event as justification for potentially moving customs officers \u201cout of the airports so they can help assist to secure the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf local law enforcement isn\u2019t going to help, then we have to provide what assets we have,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cTherefore we won\u2019t be able to process international flights going to those airports, because those officers will be reassigned.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The travel industry has said the impact of such moves, if they come to pass, is potentially significant.<\/p>\n

There are 18 airports in areas that the Department of Justice has put on its list of sanctuary cities including Boston, New York and Los Angeles. They handle a combined 68 million passengers a year, worth tens of billions in commercial activity. Some of them are also major cargo hubs, processing billions in imports on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

According to travel industry representatives, shutting down customs at Newark Airport alone would jeopardize an estimated $8 billion per year in travel spending, and an estimated $100 million of imports on a daily basis. The city is expected to be a major destination for travelers arriving this summer to watch World Cup soccer games in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

Shifting that much traffic to other airports could wreak havoc on an already stressed system, they add.<\/p>\n

A full shutdown of customs operations at airports in sanctuary cities, according to the travel industry\u2019s calculations, would imperil more than $70 billion in U.S. economic activity.<\/p>\n

Mullin\u2019s stated plans appear to run counter to at least one recent move the Trump administration has made to expand airport customs operations in a sanctuary city. Last week, the administration announced it would start to screen passengers from Ebola-stricken areas at Kennedy Airport, one of only four airports nationwide that has been designated to try to keep the fast-moving virus from entering the United States.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Mullin said on \u201cFox & Friends\u201d that the department might not pull CBP officers out of airports in every sanctuary city, but focus on cities such as Newark.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf things don\u2019t change, we\u2019re going to have to make this step pretty quick,\u201d Mullin said when asked if he planned to pull CBP officers out of Newark.<\/p>\n

Late on Friday, federal officials agreed to leave the area outside the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark as part of negotiations with the New Jersey State Police.<\/p>\n

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Travel industry and business leaders said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s plan would jeopardize the travel economy at some of the nation\u2019s largest ports of entry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPulling customs from \u2018Sanctuary\u2019 city airports would cause chaos, business groups say - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=920\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pulling customs from \u2018Sanctuary\u2019 city airports would cause chaos, business groups say - 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