What Trump’s sanctuary-city label could cost NYC at World Cup

A sanctuary city threat from the Trump administration could have serious consequences for the NY-NJ FIFA World Cup.

The tournament, which is just weeks away, is expected to bring over one million people to the region from across the globe. But Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said he is considering upending the international flight process for certain airports, such as JFK and LGA.

Here's what to know.

Mullin on stopping international flights

The DHS secretary told Fox News this week that the agency is "currently drawing up plans to say: 'Listen, in these sanctuary cities where the local radical left Democrats aren't allowing us to do our job and enforce federal laws, then we shouldn't be processing international flights into their cities.'"

This isn't the first time Mullin has mulled the idea of stopping international flights to certain cities.

Last month, he said that he was considering pulling Customs and Border Patrol officers out of sanctuary city airports.

"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 they walk out of the airport, they're not going to enforce immigration policy — maybe we need to have a really hard look at that."

Why has the Trump administration labeled NYC a sanctuary city?

New York City has been labeled a sanctuary city by the administration, meaning that the biggest city in the country could face signficant repercussions during the World Cup

Sanctuary cities are places that are considered to limit what information is given to federal immigration officers.

Multiple trade agencies for travel have warned that the move would cause serious disruptions, as some of the biggest travel hubs in the United States fall into sanctuary city jurisdiction.

The Department of Justice's sanctuary city list also includes:

• Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Berkeley
• Boston
• Chicago
• Denver
• East Lansing, Michigan
• Hoboken, New Jersey
• Jersey City, New Jersey
• Los Angeles
• New Orleans
• Newark, New Jersey
• Paterson, New Jersey
• Philadelphia
• Portland, Oregon
• Rochester, New York
• Seattle
• San Francisco

What would it mean if customs officers were taken out of sanctuary city airports?

Last month, Mullin said that officials may stop processing international fliers through border patrol at some of the largest airports in the United States if sanctuary cities did not comply. In the past, the president himself has threatened to cut funding to sanctuary cities.

It isn't immediately clear how Mullin would go about implementing the rule, or if it was a plan DHS would follow through with.