DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned that federal immigration and customs personnel could be reassigned from major international airports, including Newark Liberty International Airport, to protect ICE officers facing increasingly aggressive anti-ICE protests in New Jersey. Speaking on Fox News, Mullin said Customs and Border Protection agents may be redirected to support security operations around the Delaney Hall detention facility after violent clashes erupted between demonstrators and federal personnel.

The escalating standoff reportedly involved protesters, including several elected Democrats, confronting officers outside the detention center while federal agents responded with pepper spray after alleged assaults involving chemicals and makeshift barricades. According to officials, local police declined to intervene during portions of the unrest, intensifying frustration inside the Trump administration over what supporters describe as weakening cooperation from sanctuary jurisdictions resisting federal immigration enforcement efforts.

Mullin framed the possible disruption to international traveler processing as a direct consequence of local governments undermining federal law enforcement operations rather than a decision to halt air travel itself. Supporters of President Donald Trump argued the warning highlights the growing national security and public safety risks posed by anti-ICE activism, insisting federal authorities must prioritize protecting agents and enforcing immigration law over accommodating politically motivated resistance campaigns.