DHS threatens to remove customs officers at sanctuary city airports

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin suggested removing Customs and Border Protection officers from airports in sanctuary cities, prompting criticism from the California governor over the prospect of “halted” international travel at some of the country’s biggest hubs.

Mullin, who was appointed as the DHS secretary on March 23, told Fox News that his department was taking “a hard look” at how to handle sanctuary cities during an interview on the outlet’s “Special Report” on Monday.

Specifically, he noted that the department was considering limiting or removing Customs and Border Protection officers from airports in cities that restrict cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.

“Some of these cities have international airports; if they are a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into their city?” Mullin said.

“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 to have a really hard look at that,” Mullin added.

Mullin reiterated the idea on Tuesday when speaking with reporters in North Carolina, citing the ongoing refusal of Democrats to reach a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security, including Customs and Border Protection. Mullin said he anticipated speaking with Trump about the idea of pulling customs offices, according to Reuters.

“If cities are going to sit there and say that they’re not going to enforce immigration policies, then I’ll repeat myself and say it doesn’t make any sense for us to process international travelers through that city,” he said.

Two of the country’s largest international travel ports of entry, Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco International Airport, are located in what the federal government considers “sanctuary cities.”

In 2025, these two airports processed over 120 million people for departing and arriving flights, with SFO recording over 50 million and LAX processing over 73 million, according to airport data.

USA Today reached out to SFO and LAX for comment about Mullin’s statements, but had not received responses at the time of publication.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office responded to Mullin’s comments by calling it a “stupid idea,” via a post on X.

“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,” Newsom’s office said in the post.

If DHS was to enact this policy, it would be a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s attempts to punish jurisdictions that don’t cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

In January, President Donald Trump doubled down on his plan to withhold federal funds from cities and counties the government considered sanctuary jurisdictions. Among that list are California cities and counties, including Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego County, and San Francisco County, according to the Department of Justice.

The administration had already faced a legal challenge. A U.S. District Judge in San Francisco issued an injunction in a 2025 case, blocking the Trump administration from withholding federal funding for 16 cities and counties it considered sanctuary jurisdictions.

Mullin told Fox News that he would have the department prioritize working with cities and countries that will cooperate with federal immigration enforcement agents to enforce Trump’s immigration agenda.

“I am not going outside the policies that Congress passed for me, and we’re not trying to push those, but we’re saying you’ve got to partner with us,” he said.

Contributing: David Shepardson and Ted Hesson, Reuters

Noe Padilla is a Northern California Reporter for USA Today. Contact him at npadilla@usatodayco.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social. Sign up for the TODAY Californian newsletter or follow us on Facebook at TODAY Californian.

This article originally appeared on USA Today

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