The travel industry is on edge after Homeland Security Secretary reiterated U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from airports in so-called 鈥渟anctuary cities鈥� in a move that could jeopardize international flights.
The U.S. Travel Association said that Mullin confirmed he is considering withdrawing CPB officers in a meeting where the trade group was pressing its concerns about other proposals the Trump administration is considering that could hamper travel. U.S. Travel and the major airlines quickly condemned the idea, and even Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said it doesn’t make sense to him.
鈥淯.S. Travel believes such a move would have devastating consequences for the travel industry and communities that depend on international visitation,鈥� the industry group said Friday in a statement.
Details of the meeting were first reported by The Atlantic.
Duffy told a Congressional hearing earlier this week that he wasn鈥檛 familiar with Mullin鈥檚 remarks, and he鈥檇 like to learn more about the context and maybe ask Mullin a question about what he meant. But Duffy said it would be a bad idea to start restricting travel based on political views. After all, at some point Democrats will be in charge and 鈥測ou will all switch spots at one point 鈥� hopefully not too soon Mr. Chairman,鈥� Duffy said.
鈥淲e have people from around the world and around the country that need to be able to fly into all different kinds of places. We shouldn鈥檛 shut down air travel in a state that doesn鈥檛 agree with our politics,鈥� Duffy said.
So it’s not clear how much support this idea has within the administration, though President Donald Trump has previously funding from sanctuary cities.
There is no strict definition for , but the terms generally describe limited cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And courts have rejected the idea of pulling funding from them in the past.
In Trump鈥檚 first term in office, in 2017, his effort to cut funding to the cities.
It鈥檚 not clear exactly which cities and airports Mullin might target, but the Justice Department last year published a states, cities and counties that it considers to be sanctuary jurisdictions.
The Airlines for America trade group was quick to say the idea would hurt the economy and disrupt travel.
鈥淩educing CBP staffing at major airports would have a devastating effect on the airline and tourism industries, causing a significant operational disruption to carriers, travelers and the flow of international cargo.鈥�
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