Homeland Security's Plan to Squeeze International Flights

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Atlantic

Homeland Security’s Plan to Squeeze International Flights

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told travel executives he may target airports in cities that don’t help ICE.

By Nick Miroff

https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/kNM2ZhD3SLfoPWEsdFc0WWB8iRw=/0x0:5502x3095/828x466/media/img/mt/2026/05/2026_05_21_Scoop_Markwayne_Mullins_Airport_Flex/original.jpg
Markwayne Mullin
Jacquelyn Martin / AP

May 21, 2026, 1:33 PM ET

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In early April, shortly after Markwayne Mullin took over the Department of Homeland Security, he floated an idea on Fox News that wasn’t taken seriously; it sounded, in fact, like a proposal from someone very new on the job: Mullin threatened to cut federal screening of international passengers and cargo at airports in cities with “sanctuary” policies, which limit cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Such a move would trigger flight cancellations to airports in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and other major cities and force airlines to reroute to other destinations. Mullin’s proposal seemed more like a wild swing than a real plan.

The new secretary is pushing forward anyway. Last Wednesday, Mullin convened a small group of airline and travel-industry executives at DHS headquarters in Washington and told them he may reduce Customs and Border Protection staffing at major airports that serve sanctuary jurisdictions. Mullin told the executives the locations could include Portland International Airport, in Oregon; New York City–area airports such as John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport; and Washington Dulles International Airport, according to two people with knowledge of the discussion who were not authorized to speak publicly. Mullin did not indicate when DHS would begin the pullback, but it would likely occur sometime after the United States finishes hosting the World Cup in July, the two people told me.

Travel executives are alarmed, and have told DHS that international travelers and cargo cannot be easily routed elsewhere, these people said. The disruption would cause chaos in major U.S. airports and inflict significant economic damage beyond the cities Mullin is seeking to pressure, executives have told the department. “The message was this is a real proposal that is being considered by the administration,” one of the people with knowledge of the meeting told me, calling the potential impact on the airline industry “devastating.”

{snip}

Mullin’s proposal appears to reflect a thin grasp of global-travel logistics, as well as an inflated sense of the government’s ability to impose economic pain on specific cities, according to industry executives and former DHS officials I spoke with. The U.S. airports where international travelers and cargo first arrive are often not their final destination. A German business traveler flying into JFK may be en route to a meeting in Cincinnati. A Korean family landing at Los Angeles International Airport could be headed for Disney World. The proportion of economic pain imposed on sanctuary cities might be relatively small compared with the wider ripple effects on the U.S. travel industry. ... “If you thought the economy was bad with Trump’s war driving prices at the pump up … just wait until international travel is halted at some of the busiest airports in the world,” California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press account posted to X after Mullin first mentioned the proposal. “Talk about a stupid idea.”

{snip}

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Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/05/dhs-ice-sanctuary-cities-airports/687245/?gift=Tsjgy5hc-Y7tsZCY3EHYrciO0s8c3wx4ckzmUdHpymA

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******
Aaron Rupar
‪@atrupar.com‬

if they were intentionally trying to wreck the country, how could you tell the difference?

‪Nick Miroff‬
‪@nickmiroff.bsky.social‬
· 2h
SCOOP: Markwayne Mullin met with airline and travel executives at DHS last week and told them he's serious about plan to pressure sanctuary cities by cutting CBP screening at intl airports after World Cup. Execs have warned economic impact would be "devastating" www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Homeland Security’s Plan to Strong-Arm ‘Sanctuary’ Cities
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told travel executives he may target airports in cities that don’t help ICE.
www.theatlantic.com
3:00 PM · May 21, 2026
******

if they were intentionally trying to wreck the country, how could you tell the difference?

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-05-21T19:00:17.996Z

******
Nick Miroff
‪@nickmiroff.bsky.social‬

SCOOP: Markwayne Mullin met with airline and travel executives at DHS last week and told them he's serious about plan to pressure sanctuary cities by cutting CBP screening at intl airports after World Cup. Execs have warned economic impact would be "devastating" www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Homeland Security’s Plan to Strong-Arm ‘Sanctuary’ Cities
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told travel executives he may target airports in cities that don’t help ICE.
www.theatlantic.com
1:39 PM · May 21, 2026
******

SCOOP: Markwayne Mullin met with airline and travel executives at DHS last week and told them he's serious about plan to pressure sanctuary cities by cutting CBP screening at intl airports after World Cup. Execs have warned economic impact would be "devastating" www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

— Nick Miroff (@nickmiroff.bsky.social) 2026-05-21T17:39:11.433Z

[C_U_L8R]

1. People won't blame the cities.

The whole world knows the cause of all this chaos and dysfunction.

[poli-junkie]

2. The weaponization of airports has

begun. Wait till they stop fertile women in airports and force them to take a pregnancy test and register their cycles with the government.

[alwaysinasnit]

3. Big corporations didn't seem to have problem with the corruption of this regime, but they

made the mistake of thinking that there would be competent people at the helm. Oh well.