NEED TO KNOW

• DHS Secretary Mullin floated pulling CBP customs officers from airports in sanctuary cities including JFK, LAX, O'Hare, SFO, and Denver — effectively halting all international arrivals at those hubs
• The threat comes as DHS remains in a partial shutdown — Democrats blocked full CBP and ICE funding in February, leaving Mullin claiming he must "prioritize" where officers are deployed
• The 11 airports potentially affected processed approximately 132 million international passengers in 2024 — and several are scheduled to host FIFA World Cup arrivals this June

WASHINGTON (TDR) — Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Monday he is "going to take a hard look" at pulling Customs and Border Protection officers from major airports in so-called sanctuary cities — a threat that, if carried out, would effectively cancel international flights at some of the busiest airports in the United States.

The big picture: Mullin was confirmed as DHS Secretary on March 24 after the sudden removal of Kristi Noem — making this his first major policy signal. His proposal targets cities where local police limit cooperation with federal immigration agencies like ICE. Without federal CBP officers on-site, airlines would be forced to reroute arriving international flights to non-sanctuary airports or hold passengers aboard — a scenario airline operations managers say could snarl schedules nationwide and trigger massive compensation costs.

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• The DOJ's official list of 18 sanctuary cities includes Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Seattle, and San Francisco — encompassing some of the nation's highest-volume international airports
• The 11 airports potentially affected processed approximately 132 million international passengers in 2024 — with JFK alone drawing international passengers for roughly 57% of its total volume
• Multiple sanctuary city airports — including LAX, JFK, Philadelphia, Seattle, and SFO — are slated to receive tens of thousands of international World Cup arrivals in June 2026

Why it matters: Immigration enforcement is a federal power — and legal scholars note CBP assignments cannot be delegated to local police, even in cities hostile to federal policy. Pulling officers would not enforce immigration law more effectively — it would simply punish international travelers in Democratic-run cities while disrupting trade, tourism, and the broader U.S. economy. Court challenges would almost certainly follow immediately.

• There is no legal definition of "sanctuary city" — the designation is used politically, not in statute, raising immediate legal questions about how any withdrawal policy could be consistently applied
• The SF Chronicle noted that a CBP pullout from SFO would effectively halt all international travel at one of the nation's busiest airports — with no local authority legally able to fill the gap
• At least one legal commentator flagged a potential constitutional issue: the Ports Preference Clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits Congress from giving regulatory preference to ports of one state over another — a standard that may apply to executive agency deployments as well

Driving the news: Mullin's threat is inseparable from the ongoing DHS partial shutdown. Since February 14, Democrats have blocked full CBP and ICE funding — demanding new restrictions on immigration enforcement in exchange for their votes. The Senate passed a bill funding most of DHS through September but excluded ICE and parts of CBP. That bill failed in the House. NOTUS reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated his conference would back the bill once Congress returns from recess on April 14.

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• Mullin later walked back slightly at an Asheville, NC roundtable: "This is just something I'm thinking. This isn't something that I'm necessarily going to do" — framing it as a budget-driven contingency rather than a firm policy
• The federal budget impasse has already delayed CBP overtime payments, straining officer deployments before any sanctuary-city policy is even formally considered
• Mullin also claimed during the Fox interview that nearly 3 million people have been deported or self-deported since the start of Trump's second term — a figure that has not been independently verified

What they're saying:

• DHS Secretary Mullin on Fox News — "If they're a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into their city? We need to focus on cities that want to work with us." — NOTUS
• Mullin at Asheville roundtable — "This is just something I'm thinking. This isn't something that I'm necessarily going to do. But when I have to prioritize where I'm putting my Customs and Border Patrol because Democrats aren't willing to fund them, it only makes sense." — C-SPAN
• California Governor Gavin Newsom's office — denounced the proposal, citing "catastrophic disruption to the economy" if implemented — SF Chronicle

Yes, but: Democrats handed Mullin his best political argument by blocking CBP funding. NOTUS noted that the funding stalemate gave Mullin a legitimate opening to frame any staffing reductions as a Democratic-caused resource problem rather than a political choice. Whether the threat is real or political theater, the framing puts Democrats on defense — defending a position that can be characterized as defunding customs officers.

• The Senate bill that funded most of DHS did pass with bipartisan support — the breakdown came in the House, where Speaker Johnson has since signaled he may bring it back after recess
• Even Republicans in travel-heavy states — including Florida and Texas — would face significant economic damage if international airports in sanctuary cities were shut down to connecting passengers and freight

Between the lines: Mullin floated this idea in his very first cabinet interview — not in a policy memo, not through a formal DHS announcement. That sequencing matters. This is a negotiating threat designed to pressure Democratic mayors and the Democratic caucus in Congress simultaneously, timed to the return of the House from recess on April 14. The Times noted it as an explicit escalation in Trump's long-running war with Democratic-led cities — but the self-correction at the Asheville roundtable the same day suggests the administration is testing public reaction before committing. The FIFA World Cup deadline in June provides a hard clock: if airports are still disrupted by then, the economic and reputational damage to the U.S. becomes impossible to contain.

What's next:

• Congress returns from recess April 14 — the DHS funding bill is expected to return to the House floor, which would resolve the CBP staffing crisis Mullin cited
• Legal challenges are expected immediately if any formal CBP withdrawal is announced — the Ports Preference Clause and federal immigration statutes both present obstacles
• Sanctuary city mayors have not yet formally responded — city councils in San Francisco, New York, and Chicago are expected to weigh in this week
• The FIFA World Cup begins June 2026 — giving the administration a hard deadline before the political cost of airport disruption becomes unmistakable

If pulling customs officers from Democratic airports would harm businesses, travelers, and the economy in Republican states too, is this a serious immigration policy — or a political weapon that cuts both ways?

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