DHS Is Drawing Up Plans to Ground International Flights at 10 Major Airports

Update, May 27: Mullin confirmed on Fox News that DHS is “currently drawing up plans” to halt international flight processing at sanctuary city airports. He said the crackdown would begin after the World Cup ends in July. This has moved from a threat to active planning.

Portland International Airport was added to the list of targets. Boston was named in earlier reporting but not confirmed in the latest round.

Pull customs officers and the flights stop

Without Customs and Border Protection officers at passport control, an airport loses its legal status as an international port of entry. No CBP, no international flights. Not reduced flights. Zero.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told airline executives on May 23 that the administration is serious about withdrawing CBP from airports in cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. He raised the idea in an April 8 press conference and has repeated it since.

The airports at risk

These 10 airports collectively handle over a third of all U.S. international arrivals. Dulles and Portland were named in May 27 reporting.

Airport	City	International passengers
John F. Kennedy (JFK)	New York	33M+ annually
Los Angeles (LAX)	Los Angeles	21M+ annually
Newark Liberty (EWR)	Newark	13M+ annually
O’Hare (ORD)	Chicago	12M+ annually
San Francisco (SFO)	San Francisco	8M+ annually
Seattle-Tacoma (SEA)	Seattle	5M+ annually
Denver (DEN)	Denver	4M+ annually
Philadelphia (PHL)	Philadelphia	3M+ annually
Portland (PDX)	Portland	1M+ annually
Washington Dulles (IAD)	Washington, DC	11M+ annually

Even Trump’s own cabinet pushed back

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters the proposal “doesn’t make sense to me.” The U.S. Travel Association warned that pulling CBP would cost affected airports $2.1 billion annually in lost international revenue and trigger layoffs across ground support, hospitality, and retail. Delta, United, and American Airlines all expressed concern to DHS directly.

Pulling CBP from sanctuary city airports would ground international flights at hubs handling over 250 million passengers annually and cost $2.1 billion in lost revenue. U.S. Travel Association

The pattern

This is not about immigration enforcement at airports. CBP officers at JFK screen arriving passengers. They are not enforcing local sanctuary policies.

Sanctuary city laws govern whether local police cooperate with ICE detainer requests. They have nothing to do with federal customs processing at airports.

The threat is about leverage. The same way TxDOT threatened Austin with losing transportation funding over crosswalks. The same way the administration withheld FEMA aid from states that opposed its policies. Federal services that every resident depends on get held hostage until local governments comply with unrelated demands.

The legal problem: Congress funds CBP and designates ports of entry. DHS cannot unilaterally revoke an airport’s international status without Congressional action. Multiple legal scholars have flagged this as exceeding executive authority.

What you can do

Write your senators and representative. Tell them CBP funding exists to process travelers, not to punish cities. Send this letter through Resist Bot in minutes.
Contact your mayor. Ask whether your city has a plan if CBP is withdrawn from your airport. The threat is designed to pressure local officials into reversing sanctuary policies.
Share the numbers. 250 million passengers. $2.1 billion in annual revenue. 28% of international arrivals. Those numbers make the threat concrete.

This brief connects to the Immigration and Detention hub and the pattern of federal preemption as punishment. See also: Texas crosswalk funding threats.