Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin is reportedly moving forward with a plan to withhold DHS personnel from major American airports serving jurisdictions that do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement authorities.

According to The Atlantic‘s Nick Miroff, Mullin “convened a small group of airline and travel-industry executives at DHS headquarters in Washington and told them he may reduce Customs and Border Protection staffing at major airports that serve sanctuary jurisdictions” last week, specifically naming “Portland International Airport, in Oregon; New York City–area airports such as John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport; and Washington Dulles International Airport.”

“Travel executives are alarmed, and have told DHS that international travelers and cargo cannot be easily routed elsewhere, these people said. The disruption would cause chaos in major U.S. airports and inflict significant economic damage beyond the cities Mullin is seeking to pressure, executives have told the department,” reported Miroff. “‘The message was this is a real proposal that is being considered by the administration,’ one of the people with knowledge of the meeting told me, calling the potential impact on the airline industry ‘devastating.'”

DHS declined to comment, but urged Miroff to watch the Fox News interview in which Mullin first floated the idea.

Mullin was sworn in as secretary in March after President Donald Trump fired his predecessor, Kristi Noem, whose time at the helm of DHS was marred by her handling of the sometimes-violent clashes between immigration enforcement agents and protesters in Minneapolis, Minnesota earlier this year. Two members of that latter group, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed during such clashes.

A senior DHS official cast doubt on the prospect of Mullin’s plan going into effect, but if it does, it wouldn’t be until after the World Cup, per Miroff.

“If they’re a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into their city?” asked Mullin on Special Report in April. “Seriously, if they’re a sanctuary city and they’re receiving international flights, and we’re asking them to partner with us at the airport, but once they walk out of the airport, they’re not going to enforce immigration policy? Maybe we need have a really hard look at that, because we need to focus on cities that want to work with us.”

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