Mullin weighs pulling customs officers from Newark airport, sparking travel chaos fears

Newark Liberty International Airport could face long customs lines, missed connections and wider airline disruptions if Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin follows through on a threat to pull U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from the airport. Mullin said the administration was “drawing up plans” and could move “pretty quick” if conditions did not change, a warning that put one of the region’s busiest travel gateways squarely in the middle of a political fight with national consequences.

The threat was linked to protests outside Delaney Hall, an ICE detention center in Newark, where demonstrators objected to reported conditions for detainees. Mullin said CBP officers at the airport could be sent to handle protests at the detention site, while also floating the possibility of stopping international travel processing at Newark. That makes the proposal look like more than a rhetorical flare-up: it is both a pressure tactic in a broader immigration dispute and a real operational threat to a major airport.

The stakes are unusually high. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Newark Liberty handled about 48.9 million passengers in 2024, including roughly 13.9 million international travelers. The agency’s airports handled a record 145.9 million passengers last year, and the region has continued to see record international demand. Newark is also a major United Airlines hub near New York City, which means any customs slowdown would ripple through schedules well beyond New Jersey.

Airlines and business groups warned that stripping CBP staffing could cause widespread delays, disrupt international arrivals and damage the local economy. After meeting with Mullin, the U.S. Travel Association said he confirmed the administration was considering withdrawing CBP officers from international airports in certain sanctuary cities, and it warned of devastating consequences for the travel industry and communities that depend on international visitors.

The timing added to the alarm. The 2026 FIFA World Cup begins June 11 and runs through July 19, raising the prospect of surging inbound travel just as airport officials are bracing for disruption. CBP’s New York/Newark, New Jersey field office is based at 1210 Corbin Street in Elizabeth, just south of the airport, underscoring how closely federal customs operations are tied to Newark’s air traffic flow.

Newark has already been a sensitive chokepoint in recent years because of runway and traffic disruptions. Pulling customs officers now would not just be a symbolic warning to “sanctuary” jurisdictions. It would directly threaten the smooth movement of international passengers and cargo at a moment when the country’s travel system can least afford another bottleneck.