The Trump administration has threatened to stop processing international flights in major cities across the United States in response to protests against immigration enforcement. Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, said during a Fox News interview on Tuesday that the administration is 'drawing up plans' to take such action, citing clashes at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in New Jersey.
The move would target cities with so-called sanctuary laws, which limit local police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Mullin questioned why federal immigration services should continue at Newark Liberty International Airport while Democratic lawmakers join demonstrators criticising conditions at the Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark. '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 [ICE] facility. Then why are we processing international flights into the airport there?' he said.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which provide security and immigration processing at airports, are part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), alongside ICE. For the past five days, hundreds of immigrants detained at the privately run Delaney Hall facility have been on hunger and work strike, demanding improved conditions, medical care, and progress on their immigration cases. On Tuesday evening, immigration officials clashed with protesters, deploying pepper spray and Tasers.
The strike and clashes have heightened tensions between Democratic politicians opposing the facility and the Trump administration. On Monday, US senator Andy Kim was pepper-sprayed by ICE officers. Mullin accused Kim and other Democrats of 'spreading smears' about ICE and engaging in political stunts. On Fox News, he threatened to end international flight processing in sanctuary cities, saying, 'If they're going to not allow us to go out and arrest the worst of the worst… then why are we processing international flights into the airport there?'
Sanctuary policies do not prevent ICE operations but limit some local-federal collaborations. On Wednesday, the hunger strike continued, and New York congressman Adriano Espaillat entered the facility for an oversight visit. 'The conditions, the food conditions are horrible. We feel that they're not getting medical services. We feel that they're overcrowded, and they're denied their fundamental rights,' he said, vowing to 'fight to shut this place down.'
