Aircraft industry trade associations are calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) not to go ahead with threats to scale back customs agents at multiple U.S. airports amid a spat between federal and local government officials over immigration enforcement.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Airforwarders Association (AfA) both sent letters to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin describing the far-reaching consequences of such a cutback, including supply chain snafus, diminished cargo capacity and lost revenues.

AfA executive director Brandon Fried warned that any reduction in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operations at major ports of entry could disrupt high-value, time-critical, and security-sensitive cargo entering the U.S.

“Commercial supply chains face parallel vulnerabilities. U.S. manufacturers in aerospace, automotive, electronics and consumer goods rely on imported components that move by air because their production schedules cannot absorb the variability of ocean freight,” said Fried. “When CBP staffing falls below the threshold needed to clear cargo in a timely fashion, those shipments queue. Assembly lines stop. The cost cascades upstream and downstream, and the reputational damage to U.S. ports of entry as reliable trade gateways accumulates with each episode.”

Fried said the AfA would provide data, operational analysis and direct stakeholder input to DHS and CBP to better inform them on the decision made.

The letters follow reports that the DHS is considering reducing or halting CBP processing at certain airports in what the Department of Justice identified as “sanctuary cities,” defined as cities with policies that impede the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

Mullin first floated the idea to reduce or suspend services at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in response to ongoing protests at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center nearby.

IATA’s letter, penned by Douglas Lavin, the company’s vice president of member and external relations for North America, focused largely on the impacts to EWR.

“Over half of the airport’s total freight throughput is via international shipments. Eliminating CBP processing would force passenger and cargo airlines to reroute international flights to other entry points,” said Lavin. “Airlines would incur substantial logistical and financial burdens, including the reshuffling of aircraft, crews, and schedules, all of which would degrade service quality and reliability.”

Flights from EWR cannot be transferred to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport since they are “Level 3” designated hubs where demand far exceeds capacity, “thereby severely limiting international access to the entire New York region,” Lavin said.

Airports in Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle and San Francisco would be among those impacted by any changes in processes.

“We recognize and share the administration’s commitment to border security and fiscal responsibility. Those goals are not in conflict with maintaining adequate CBP staffing at air cargo facilities,” said the AfA’s Fried. “CBP cargo operations are not merely an administrative processing function; they are a critical part of our national security and economic resilience…Decisions that reduce that capacity carry consequences well beyond the airports directly affected.”

Fried’s letter pointed out that unlike passengers, freight cannot be rebooked on a later flight or rerouted overnight through an alternative gateway because airline schedules, warehouse capacity, trucking links, bonded facility agreements and customs compliance processes are built around established gateway airports.

“Diverting volume to another airport is not a short-term workaround; it requires months of coordination and capital investment that simply is not available in an emergency,” the AfA letter wrote. “The airports identified in current reports serve not only their own metropolitan regions but act as gateway hubs for freight destined throughout the country. A disruption there is a disruption everywhere.”

The AfA has expressed qualms with the federal government’s attempts to cut flights on multiple occasions since late 2025.

When the federal government shut down for 42 days across last October and November, the AfA condemned the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) decision to implement flight reductions at 40 major U.S. airports. At the time, the trade body was concerned about slowdowns in supply chains and more staff shortages, as air traffic controllers had been working without pay.

In April, the industry group expressed dismay at the FAA’s call to roll back hundreds of flights at Chicago O’Hare International Airport this summer to avoid worsening flight delays.