Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin dropped a political grenade Tuesday night, revealing the administration is actively sketching out plans to halt international flights into cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
If progressive mayors want to obstruct ICE, Team Trump may decide their airports don’t get the perks of global travel either.
During an appearance on Hannity, Mullin blasted what he described as “radical left Democrats” for turning major cities into safe havens for illegal immigrants while federal agents are left twisting in the wind.
“Why are we processing international flights into the airport there?” Mullin asked while discussing the escalating standoff around Newark’s Delaney Hall detention facility. “We are currently — we’re not initiating it yet — but we’re currently drawing up plans to say, listen, in these sanctuary cities where the local, radical left Democrats aren’t allowing us to do our job and enforce federal laws, then we shouldn’t be processing international flights into their cities either because they don’t want us to enforce immigration.”
The administration has spent months hammering Democrat-run cities over sanctuary policies that limit cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trump officials argue local politicians are effectively shielding illegal immigrants from deportation while federal agents deal with mounting violence, gang activity and anti-ICE protests.
Mullin also claimed DHS has arrested “tens of thousands” of gang members classified as terrorists during the administration’s immigration sweeps.
The latest flashpoint erupted outside Delaney Hall in Newark, where anti-ICE protesters have been clashing with federal agents for days. According to Mullin, local authorities have failed to keep access routes clear around the detention center, making it harder for federal personnel to move safely in and out of the facility.
“The street, it belongs to the city,” Mullin said. “If it belonged to us, we would take care of it, but it belongs to the city, and they’re barricading our employees from coming in and out of the facility.”
Things got uglier Monday when ICE agents fired pepper spray into a crowd that included protesters and Andy Kim, who claimed he was attempting to mediate between demonstrators and law enforcement.
Meanwhile, detainees inside Delaney Hall have reportedly launched a hunger strike, prompting border czar Tom Homan to warn that inmates could be force-fed “if it gets bad enough” — a remark certain to send civil liberties groups into full meltdown mode.
Whether the administration actually follows through on restricting international arrivals remains unclear. But the threat alone signals the White House is prepared to crank up pressure on blue cities that continue resisting federal immigration enforcement — and this time, the fight could hit travelers right at the jet bridge.
