Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is weighing whether to restrict major airports in sanctuary cities from processing international travelers.
Mullin, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate last month, told Fox News on Monday that his department will scrutinize customs enforcement at major airports in jurisdictions known as sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Mullin did not name any particular sanctuary cities or airports, but Philadelphia is on President Donald Trump administration’s list of so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that could have federal funding pulled if policies are not changed.
If Mullin’s proposal comes to fruition and includes Philadelphia, millions of international travelers at Philadelphia International Airport could potentially be affected. Last year at PHL, more than 4.1 million passengers traveled to and from international destinations.
Parts of PHL, including international Terminal A-West, are technically in Delaware County, which was on the Trump administration’s original list of sanctuary jurisdictions but was later removed.
Representatives for PHL did not respond to a request for comment.
“If they’re a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into their city?” Mullin said. “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 the airport, they’re not going to enforce immigration policy? Maybe we need to have a really hard look at that.”
The secretary told Fox that his department will also continue to “take a hard look” at sanctuary cities broadly, with Mullin saying that he believes such jurisdictions are “not lawful.”
Mullin’s comments were some of his first policy-related remarks since he was appointed by Trump after his predecessor, Kristi Noem, was ousted amid outrage over ICE’s extreme tactics and questions about her leadership.
Upon his confirmation in March, Mullin took the helm of a department riddled with controversy and more than a month into a government funding lapse that caused long lines and increased Transportation Security Administration absences as employees worked for weeks without getting a paycheck.
Federal agents from ICE — the agency at the center of lawmakers’ disagreement over funding DHS — were deployed to airports, including PHL, in an attempt to help with crowd control and other logistics.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) was an early supporter of Trump’s nomination of Mullin — a former U.S. senator from Oklahoma — and cast the deciding vote in advancing his nomination.
Fetterman did not immediately comment on Mullin’s suggestion that sanctuary cities could be restricted from receiving international travelers.
U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D., N.J.) panned the idea on social media Tuesday.
“The Trump administration wants to create further chaos in our airports and our country,” Kim said. “These ideas aren’t solutions, they’re just retaliation that’ll make life harder for us.”
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