Gavin Newsom unveils feeble plan to combat anarchy heading for California airports

Gavin Newsom signaled he will sue if the Department for Homeland Security pulls border agents from California airports.

It comes a day after Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin revealed he is “drawing up plans” to halt customs processing at hubs in sanctuary cities, which could cripple LAX and San Francisco Airport.

The threat comes as LA prepares to host a wave of international visitors tied to next month’s FIFA World Cup, with tourism officials expecting hundreds of thousands of travelers to pour into the region.

The prospect of federal customs pullbacks has raised fears of massive delays and operational breakdowns at airports already strained by staffing concerns.

Similar disruptions unfolded during the prolonged partial government shutdown in march, when TSA employees worked for weeks without pay, triggering staffing shortages and chaotic security lines at airports nationwide.

In response, ICE agents were temporarily deployed to more than a dozen airports to help ease the burden, though TSA workers and union officials blasted the move as confusing and ineffective, arguing the federal government should instead restore pay to existing employees.

Rather than outlining a direct countermeasure, Newsom said California’s main strategy would once again center on legal action.

“There’s no rules anymore with the Trump administration,” Newsom told reporters when asked about the possibility of Customs and Border Protection resources being pulled from airports including LAX, SFO and Sacramento International Airport.

The governor accused President Donald Trump of trying to “test the boundaries” of executive power and said California is already preparing legal strategies in anticipation of a potential showdown with Washington.

“I’ve drawn up plenty of documents to litigate on a lot of these issues,” Newsom said. “So we’ll see what ultimately transpires.”

But the governor offered few concrete details about how California would keep airports operating if the federal government actually suspended customs processing — a move that could effectively halt international arrivals at some of the busiest airports on the West Coast.

Newsom instead pointed to ongoing discussions with the state’s legal team and prior federal court rulings as officials brace for what he described as another escalation from the administration.

“You heard even from the secretary talking about using the National Guard again this summer,” Newsom said. “That immediately initiated another conversation with our team, our legal team, looking at previous adjudication from the federal courts and looking at our legal strategies to prepare.”

The remarks came after Mullin floated the idea of stripping customs services from sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

“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 [immigrants] walk out of the airport they’re not going to enforce immigration policy, maybe we need to have a really hard look at that,” Mullin said during a recent Fox News interview.

The DHS secretary said the administration may need to “start prioritizing things at some point,” suggesting federal immigration resources could instead be directed toward cities that cooperate with deportation efforts.

The proposal has already sparked alarm among airport officials and travel experts, who warn any suspension of customs processing could trigger massive disruptions to international travel, tourism and cargo operations across California.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has reportedly pushed back against the idea, warning that shutting down air travel access over political disagreements would create enormous economic consequences.

Still, Newsom’s response did little to reassure critics who argue California remains trapped in a cycle of reacting to Trump-era policies with courtroom battles instead of concrete contingency plans.

With the administration hinting at increased ICE operations and even possible National Guard deployments this summer, the clash between Sacramento and Washington appears headed for yet another legal war — one that could leave millions of travelers caught in the middle.

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