Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, May 20, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., and demonstrators confronting ICE officers outside Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, May 27, 2026AP Photo/Reuters
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin intensified his warnings on Thursday regarding the potential removal of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel from Newark Liberty International Airport, who are responsible for processing international travelers, to assist in managing demonstrators outside New Jersey’s Delaney Hall detention center.
Mullin continued to criticize the demonstrations, which are now in their seventh day, occurring outside the Immigration Customs and Enforcement detention facility. These protests stem from reports concerning inadequate living conditions and health issues among the 300 individuals detained there. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has refuted these claims.
A demonstrator engages with uniformed federal officers standing outside the Delaney Hall detention center during a protest against detainee transfers on May 27, 2026, in Newark, N.J.Seth Wenig/AP Photo/Seth Wenig
ICE agents have been involved in altercations with protesters who attempted to impede vehicle access, leading federal officers to deploy pepper spray and batons.
Speaking on "Fox & Friends" on Thursday, Mullin stated that DHS must “prioritize federal law enforcement officers” in addressing the protests. He indicated that he is considering reassigning CBP agents from the airport to support agents outside the detention facility, a move that would likely cause delays in the processing of international passengers and freight.
"This could impact international flights arriving and departing from their airport, as I will need to reassign Customs and Border Protection officers who are processing international flights to assist our ICE agents," he explained.
"Furthermore, if international flights cannot be processed because Customs is unavailable, it naturally means that inbound international flights from abroad cannot be handled," he added.
Individuals queue for TSA security screening at Terminal A of Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, March 24, 2026.Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP
Mullin conveyed on Fox News that if “circumstances do not improve,” he will be compelled to enact this measure “quite swiftly.”
“We will not be able to process the flights, as we will lack the necessary officers on-site,” he stated. “We will have to reassign our Customs and Border Patrol officers who handle these flights and deploy them to these [detention] facilities to aid in safeguarding our employees who are coming to work.”
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees Newark Liberty International Airport, has not yet responded to Mullin’s proposal.
Protesters confront ICE agents outside the Delaney Hall detention center, demonstrating near the entrance gates on May 27, 2026, in Newark, N.J.Andres Kudacki/AP Photo
Mullin has repeatedly hinted at a strategy to withdraw CBP officers from airports located in so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions.” On Wednesday, he announced that he was “preparing plans.”
However, Mullin’s contentious suggestion has faced opposition from travel industry organizations.
The U.S. Travel Association, an organization representing the nation’s travel sector, convened with Mullin last week and voiced apprehension regarding the proposal to remove CBP officers from various cities.
“U.S. Travel believes that such an action would have severe repercussions for the travel industry and for communities reliant on international visitors,” the association stated on Friday.
At least one former Trump administration official has expressed reservations about such a policy.
When questioned about the proposal during a congressional hearing last week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy indicated he was unaware of Mullin’s remarks but suggested that implementing such a policy based on political considerations would be ill-advised.
“I would like to review [Mullin’s] statements to understand the context and would also ask him what he intended by that. However, we have individuals from across the globe and the nation who need to be able to fly into diverse locations. We should not obstruct air travel to a state that holds differing political views from ours,” Duffy remarked.
The protests at Delaney Hall persisted into Wednesday evening, with demonstrators again engaging with federal law enforcement personnel.
Several Democratic members of Congress, including New Jersey Senator Corey Booker, have visited the detention center in the past week and reported witnessing the dilapidated conditions firsthand.
“The accounts I have received, particularly from female inmates, regarding access to medical care seemed unsatisfactory, if not outright perilous to their well-being,” Booker stated on Wednesday.
Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, May 20, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., and demonstrators confronting ICE officers outside Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, May 27, 2026AP Photo/Reuters
On the same day, Mullin dismissed the allegations and reports of a hunger strike within the facility, asserting that “only a small number of individuals were refusing to eat” because they purportedly desired “ethnic specific food.”
“Well, they are welcome to return to their home country to obtain whatever cuisine they prefer,” he informed reporters.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com