DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin suggests closing customs operations at airports in sanctuary cities, a move that could disrupt international flights, trade, and tourism across the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin questioned whether international airports in so-called “Sanctuary Cities” should continue to be allowed to process inbound international travelers in an appearance on Fox News Monday.
“If they’re a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into — into their city?” asked Mullin. “Seriously, if they’re a sanctuary city and they’re receiving international flights, and we’re asking them to partner with us at the airport, but once they walk out of the airport, they’re not going to enforce immigration policy? Maybe we need have a really hard look at that, because we need to focus on cities that want to work with us.”
Several U.S. cities on the Justice Department’s list of sanctuary jurisdictions have large international airports, including Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Newark, New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, and Boston. A cessation of international arrivals at some or all of these cities could hobble international travel to and from the United States.
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United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) a division of DHS, is responsible for screening inbound international passengers at all U.S. airports. CBP is separate from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A closure of CBP operations at an airport would effectively halt all international flights to or from that airport, wreaking havoc on plans for international travelers. DHS has the authority to close a point of entry for specific reasons, such as emergencies, facility failures like power outages, or security threats, but use of that authority to shutter ports of entry for political reasons is largely untested.
More than 50 million international travelers arrived at the three international airports in New York City and Newark alone last year. Any halt to international air travel could severely impact U.S. international trade and tourism, including the FIFA World Cup, due to start in cities around the country in early June.
Immigration enforcement has been at the center of a partisan standoff since February 14, when the DHS entered a partial shutdown after funding expired.
Cities, counties, and states choose whether to direct their law enforcement divisions to cooperate with federal immigration officials. Many jurisdictions have chosen not to cooperate with immigration authorities for decades, reasoning that fear of being reported to immigration officials keeps non-U.S. citizens—whether they’re in the country legally or not—from reporting crimes or cooperating with local law enforcement investigations in unrelated matters. Los Angeles has prevented local police officers from questioning individuals solely based on immigration status since 1979. Chicago has had similar restrictions since the 1980s.
Many state and city governments also point to their own laws that citizenship status and immigration enforcement are fully within the jurisdiction and budget of federal authorities, although local jurisdictions will typically honor information requests from federal immigration authorities with a judicial warrant.
In later comments to reporters, Mullin stressed no final decision had been made, and that pulling CBP officers from airports is just one of many options under consideration. “We’re going to start having those conversations. As I said, this is just something I’m thinking. This isn’t something that I’m necessarily going to do,” he said.
There is little, if any, precedent for closing customs processing at U.S. airports for political reasons. CBP agents are currently being paid during the DHS shutdown, using already appropriated funds pulled from other parts of the budget, as frontline CBP agents are considered essential.
U.S. air travelers have borne much of the brunt of the DHS shutdown. TSA workers went without pay until late March, when they were given back pay by executive order. Until then, however, large numbers of them called off sick or outright quit, leaving airports understaffed and security lines out the door. The security lines have alleviated now that TSA workers have been paid.