Homeland Security threatens to pull customs from LAX
New DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin says sanctuary cities like Los Angeles may lose federal customs processing at their international airports.
Customs agents may get yanked from LAX and airports in sanctuary cities.
The new secretary of homeland security is threatening to pull customs officers out of airports in cities like Los Angeles over the sanctuary city issue.
Markwayne Mullin gave his first interview since being sworn in to the semiofficial government news agency, Fox News. He said the recent government shutdown has caused so many customs and border patrol agents to resign that the federal government may have to choose its partners more carefully.
"I believe sanctuary cities is not lawful. I don't think they should be able to do that," Mullin said. "That is one of the things that we are going to take a long hard look at. Some of these cities have international airports. If they're a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into their cities?"
"I mean, 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?"
In 2024, Los Angeles joined many other cities and the state of California in ruling that LAPD cannot cooperate with federal agents on immigration issues.
Malibu is also a sanctuary city. Of course, Malibu does not have an international airport.
If Mullin's threat is implemented, airports like LAX, SFO and JFK in New York would be unable to process arriving international passengers, forcing airlines to reroute thousands of daily flights.
Legal experts noted that such a move would likely face immediate challenges in federal court. A federal court judge in San Francisco has previously issued an injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from retaliating against sanctuary jurisdictions by withholding federal funds or services.
California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement: "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. Talk about a stupid idea."