Amna Nawaz
@PBSNewsHour·5.3M subscribers·62.2K videos
WATCH: Mullin explains his comments on removing customs officers from airports in 'sanctuary cities'
Posted
June 3, 2026
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June 3, 2026
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1:49Now PlayingRep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., asked Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin about comments Mullin made regarding taking Customs and Border Protection officers out of "sanctuary cities."
“Have you reconsidered those comments you made?” Thompson asked.
Mullin said his comments weren’t about “punishing sanctuary cities,” but about local and state law enforcement saying they did not have the resources to respond following calls from DHS.
“If that means I got to pull them out of Customs and Border Protection from processing international flights, I will,” Mullin said. “If they're cooperating with us, then I don't have to do that.”
In an April interview on Fox News, Mullin asked whether international airports in sanctuary cities should be processing international travelers through customs.
“We’re asking them to partner with us at the airport, but once they walk out the airport they’re not going to enforce immigration policy?” Mullin said. “Maybe we need to have a very hard look at that.”
Mullin’s tune changed following criticism of his statements. He narrowed his threats to Newark following protests outside Delaney Hall, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center.
Mullin said he would move customs officers out of nearby airports to protect federal facilities such as Delaney Hall.
“I don't have any other option but protect my employees at these federal facilities that the state and local government refuse to,” Mullin said during the Wednesday House committee hearing.
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