Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is weighing whether or not to limit main airports in sanctuary cities from processing worldwide vacationers.
Mullin, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate final month, told Fox News on Monday that his division will scrutinize customs enforcement at main airports in jurisdictions often called sanctuary cities that restrict cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Mullin didn’t title any specific sanctuary cities or airports, however Philadelphia is on President Donald Trump administration’s listing of so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that would have federal funding pulled if insurance policies will not be modified.
If Mullin’s proposal involves fruition and contains Philadelphia, tens of millions of worldwide vacationers at Philadelphia International Airport might probably be affected. Last yr at PHL, greater than 4.1 million passengers traveled to and from international destinations.
Parts of PHL, together with worldwide Terminal A-West, are technically in Delaware County, which was on the Trump administration’s authentic listing of sanctuary jurisdictions however was later eliminated.
Representatives for PHL didn’t reply to a request for remark.
“If they’re a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into their city?” Mullin stated. “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 the airport, they’re not going to enforce immigration policy? Maybe we need to have a really hard look at that.”
The secretary advised Fox that his division may even proceed to “take a hard look” at sanctuary cities broadly, with Mullin saying that he believes such jurisdictions are “not lawful.”
Mullin’s feedback had been a few of his first policy-related remarks since he was appointed by Trump after his predecessor, Kristi Noem, was ousted amid outrage over ICE’s excessive techniques and questions on her management.
Upon his affirmation in March, Mullin took the helm of a division riddled with controversy and greater than a month right into a authorities funding lapse that prompted lengthy strains and elevated Transportation Security Administration absences as workers labored for weeks with out getting a paycheck.
Federal brokers from ICE — the company on the heart of lawmakers’ disagreement over funding DHS — had been deployed to airports, together with PHL, in an try to assist with crowd management and different logistics.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) was an early supporter of Trump’s nomination of Mullin — a former U.S. senator from Oklahoma — and forged the deciding vote in advancing his nomination.
Fetterman didn’t instantly touch upon Mullin’s suggestion that sanctuary cities may very well be restricted from receiving worldwide vacationers.
U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D., N.J.) panned the concept on social media Tuesday.
“The Trump administration wants to create further chaos in our airports and our country,” Kim stated. “These ideas aren’t solutions, they’re just retaliation that’ll make life harder for us.”