3 federal actions hitting one airport. Flight cuts from FAA layoffs. Threatened loss of international service. ICE agents at the gates. All at Newark Liberty International.
What Is Happening at Newark
Newark Liberty International Airport serves 46 million passengers a year. It is the primary international airport for New Jersey’s 9.3 million residents and a major hub for United Airlines. Three separate federal actions are converging on it.
1. DOGE-driven FAA staffing cuts. The FAA laid off approximately 400 employees as part of DOGE workforce reductions. Newark, already short on air traffic controllers, cut flights through October 2026. Transportation Secretary Duffy convened meetings with airlines to set reduction levels. Radar outages and delays have plagued the airport for months.
2. Sanctuary city CBP threat. DHS is drawing up plans to pull customs officers from airports in sanctuary cities. Newark is on the target list. Without CBP, the airport loses its status as an international port of entry. All international flights stop.
3. ICE deployment at the airport. During the partial federal shutdown, ICE agents were deployed to Newark and more than a dozen other airports as TSA staffing collapsed. The ACLU of New Jersey demanded transparency about the scope of ICE authority and targeting criteria at the airport.
What This Means for New Jersey
Newark handles 13 million international passengers annually. It is the economic engine of northern New Jersey — supporting thousands of jobs in ground transport, hospitality, retail, and cargo. New Jersey has no other airport that can absorb this traffic.
The three threats are unrelated in origin but compound at the same chokepoint. Flight cuts reduce capacity. The CBP threat could eliminate international service entirely. ICE presence at the airport creates a chilling effect on immigrant communities who use it.
No other state has a single airport facing all three federal actions simultaneously.
Read more on the Public Workers hub and our coverage of the sanctuary city airport threat.