The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to end its processing of international flights to so-called "sanctuary cities," DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed this week.

Sanctuary cities are municipalities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement in deportations efforts. Many refuse to refer criminals in their custody to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and some allegedly provide public benefits to non-citizens.

"[W]e’re currently drawing up plans to say, listen, these sanctuary cities where the local radical left Democrats aren’t allowing us to do our jobs and enforce federal laws, then we shouldn’t be processing international flights into their cities either," Mullin said on Fox News. Mullin cited protests at immigration centers in those municipalities as a partial justification.

He did, however, confirm that DHS was not yet planning to implement the halt.

Theoretically, if DHS were to pause its processing of international flights, it could effectively shut down major airports in those cities and inflict considerable economic pain.

Under the Trump administration, Washington has explored the possibility of withholding federal funding to sanctuary cities and the Department of Justice has brought lawsuits against several municipalities.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.