In a recent Fox News interview, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin suggested removing customs and immigration services from international airports in sanctuary jurisdictions, stating, “If they’re a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into their city?”
As of 2025, 12 states, 18 cities, including New York City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, Denver, Boston, and Chicago, 4 counties, and the District of Columbia were recognized as sanctuary jurisdictions, meaning they have laws or policies that restrict interaction with federal immigration enforcement. Mullin said he believes “sanctuary” jurisdictions are unlawful and that, under his leadership, DHS will “take a hard look at this.”
Go deeper: Denying major U.S. airports the ability to process international travelers would severely disrupt US tourism. The US travel industry has been increasingly frustrated by the Trump administration’s immigration policies, which they attribute to a major reason for the $12.5 billion revenue loss in US tourism last year. The US travel industry had been hopeful that the FIFA World Cup would revive the flailing US tourism numbers; however, Mullin’s comments threatening to withdraw customs processing would greatly hamper FIFA World Cup travel, as many of the US host cities are currently classified as sanctuary jurisdictions.
Erickson Insights & Analysis
Erickson Immigration Group will continue monitoring developments and sharing updates as more news is available. We expect that any action taken against sanctuary jurisdictions will likely be immediately challenged in the courts. Please contact your employer or EIG attorney if you have questions about anything we’re reporting above or if you have case-specific questions.