Freshly confirmed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has wasted no time making his presence felt. Just days into the job, he sat down with Fox News host Bret Baier Monday night and floated an idea so simple and so devastating that it’s a wonder nobody tried it sooner: Pull Customs and Border Protection officers out of international airports in sanctuary cities.
Remember, without CBP, there can be no customs clearance. Without customs clearance, you can’t accept international arrivals.
The math isn’t complicated. If Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Denver, Philadelphia, Newark, and New Orleans want to play sanctuary politics, they can explain to thousands of stranded international travelers why their city’s ideological grandstanding just shut down their airport.
I love it. I knew Mullin was onto something huge when I watched the interview.
“If they are a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into their city?” he asked. “Seriously, if they are a sanctuary city and they are receiving international flights, and we’re asking them to partner with us at the airport, but once they walk out of the airport, they’re not going to enforce immigration policy? Maybe we need to have a really hard look at that because we need to focus on cities that want to work with us.”
🚨 HOLY CRAP! DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin reveals sanctuary cities may lose CBP-CUSTOMS at airports until they comply
This would effectively BLOCK international travel there
DO IT! FAFO! pic.twitter.com/GtKbF9WCap
“Should sanctuary cities be processing Customs into their city? I’m…
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 6, 2026
It’s hard to argue with the logic. These cities actively obstruct federal immigration enforcement, refuse cooperation with ICE, and then expect no consequences?
Let’s face it: The time for playing nice has long expired.
The DHS shutdown is pushing toward two months, and Democrats show zero interest in negotiating in good faith. They’re demanding absurd reforms for ICE that would effectively kneecap immigration enforcement. And that just isn’t going to happen.
Mullin clearly didn’t take the job to play nice with those who’ve declared war on federal immigration law. Democrats were practically giddy when Kristi Noem got fired. They may want to pump the brakes on that celebration because Mullin looks like he’s ready to make her tenure look tame by comparison.
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Mullin’s sanctuary city proposal makes perfect sense, and should get Democrats in these cities to reconsider just how far they really want to fight the federal government. Cities that use their local governments as shields against federal immigration law have long operated without real consequences, and Mullin just put consequences on the table.
Whether the proposal moves forward depends on how serious the administration is about turning up the pressure. I think they are very serious. But even floating it sends a message: the days of sanctuary cities not suffering consequences for violating federal law are over. Let’s not forget, it was Democrats who created this standoff. They’re the ones who are putting national security at risk over a policy dispute. This is a situation of their own making, and Mullin just handed them the bill.
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