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The Trump administration is considering a new plan to pressure sanctuary cities to change their ways.<\/p>\n
In his first interview since his confirmation, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Monday that he\u2019s weighing pulling Customs officers from major airports in sanctuary cities to force them to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The move would effectively prevent international travel through those airports.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe sanctuary cities is not lawful,\u201d Mullin told Fox News\u2019 Bret Baier. \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019re able to do that, and so we\u2019re gonna take a hard look at this.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed specifically to international airports as a potential pressure point.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they\u2019re sanctuary cities, should they really be processing Customs into their city?\u201d Mullin asked. \u201cIf they\u2019re a sanctuary city and they\u2019re receiving international flights, and we\u2019re asking them to partner with us at the airport, but once they walk out of the airport they\u2019re not gonna 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration enforcement effort has targeted some sanctuary cities by flooding them with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and Border Patrol agents. One such operation took place in Chicago last year, where local authorities are restricted from working with ICE.<\/p>\n
Mullin suggested the potential policy change comes alongside broader resource constraints and political battles in Washington, including a partial government shutdown over Democrats\u2019 demands to dramatically reform ICE.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re gonna have to start prioritizing things at some point,\u201d Mullin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, a number of the Democrats are wanting to defund Customs and Border Patrol. Well, who processes those individuals when they walk off a plane? And so I\u2019m gonna have to be forced to make hard decisions,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\nMullin: I believe sanctuary cities is not lawful. Some of these cities have international airports. If they are a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into their city? We need to have a really hard look at that.<\/p>\n
Baier: So you are saying that big cities that\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/UAJxWFZtZI<\/a><\/p>\n