DHS secretary targets ‘sanctuary’ city airports. Will CLT flights be affected?
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is floating a plan that could disrupt international air travel in some U.S. cities. Whether it could affect Charlotte is unclear.
During his first official trip as secretary to Western North Carolina Tuesday, Mullin said he is considering pulling federal customs personnel from airports in so-called “sanctuary cities,” raising questions about how the idea could ripple into major hubs like Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Mullin’s trip was primarily focused on Hurricane Helene recovery efforts and FEMA, but expanded on comments made earlier in the week about airport policies when speaking to reporters.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me that we would process customs and border patrol in an airport and then release them to a city that they’re not willing to enforce immigration policy,” Mullin said Tuesday in Chimney Rock, adding that the idea is “something we’re talking about” and not a final decision.
Earlier in the week Mullin suggested DHS could stop processing international travelers at airports in sanctuary cities if the agency has to prioritize staffing. Mullin on Tuesday described the idea as “an option” tied in part to ongoing funding constraints at the department.
The customs officers in Mullin’s plan are federal agents who staff international arrival halls at airports. Without them, airports cannot process international passengers. Reuters reported that, in practice, removing those officers could effectively halt international travel at affected airports.
“We shouldn’t waste our taxpayer dollars that way, because if I’m going to have to prioritize where my agents are at, then let’s work with communities, let’s work with states that are going to work with the federal government to enforce immigration policies and laws,” Mullin said.
But whether Charlotte is affected may depend on how much cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts Mullin is looking for.
Under North Carolina law, cities are prohibited from adopting sanctuary-style policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. That means Charlotte is not a sanctuary city in the formal sense. In October, the U.S. Department of Justice released a list of sanctuary jurisdictions that included New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans and others.
As previously reported by The Charlotte Observer, Sheriff Garry McFadden rejects the idea that Charlotte is a sanctuary city. State law requires local governments to cooperate with federal immigration authorities to the extent allowed by federal law, limiting the ability of cities like Charlotte to adopt the kinds of policies seen in places such as New York or San Francisco.
Still, that does not mean Charlotte has always been an easy partner for federal immigration enforcement.
Mecklenburg County has spent years at the center of political fights over immigration policy, particularly under McFadden. The sheriff previously declined to honor certain federal immigration detainers, drawing criticism from state lawmakers and prompting legislative changes.
Charlotte was also the target of a federal immigration enforcement sweep last year, “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” which led to hundreds of arrests in the Charlotte area. DHS said its operation was staged in Charlotte because of the city’s “sanctuary policies.” At the time, local officials said they had little advance notice of the operation and did not want it.
Mullin did not name specific cities Tuesday and acknowledged he has not made a final decision. He said he planned to brief President Donald Trump on the idea Tuesday evening
Mullin tied the proposal in part to resource constraints at DHS, arguing the agency may need to prioritize where it deploys personnel. The comments came as airports nationwide have been strained by a federal funding standoff that disrupted staffing and operations. The government shutdown left tens of thousands of Transportation Security Administration officers temporarily unpaid and contributed to long security lines at airports across the country.
Mullin framed his airport comments in that context, suggesting DHS must make decisions about where limited personnel can have the most impact.
“I have to prioritize, as I said, my Customs and Border Patrol, since they’re not being funded, and the Democrats are wanting to defund them,” he said. “All options are on the table right now, when we start looking at trying to streamline and make DHS more efficient, I’m looking at every aspect.”
Charlotte Douglas International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world, handling more than 50 million passengers last year, according to airport data.
This story was originally published April 10, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "DHS secretary targets ‘sanctuary’ city airports. Will CLT flights be affected?."
