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Tim Mannello
Williamsport
Donald J. Trump's war with Iran has already hurt ordinary Americans. Now his administration is floating another idea that would deliver yet another self-inflicted wound on all of us: shutting down customs inspections at sanctuary city airports. That move would hit even harder, and regular people would feel the impact first.
The economic hit would slam everyday life. Local economies would slow almost overnight. Medicine, electronics, auto parts and fresh food would sit in warehouses instead of reaching stores.
Hospitals would wait for supplies that never arrive. Restaurants would run short on ingredients. Small online sellers would miss shipments. Prices would climb as shortages spread.
Tourism would dry up, leaving hotel workers, airport staff and service employees with fewer hours and smaller paychecks.
International flights would stop instantly. Planes couldn't land in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, Denver, Portland or Baltimore. Customs officers who are the ones who check your passport, clear you back into the country and screen your bags wouldn't be able to do their jobs. Without them, the law says those planes can't touch down, even if they're full of U.S. citizens trying to get home.
The fallout for travelers would be immediate and personal. Flights home would vanish from the schedule with no warning. Families on vacation would be stuck overseas with no clear way back. Students studying abroad would be dumped in unfamiliar cities hundreds of miles from home.
Workers who rely on travel would lose income as meetings collapse. Even people flying only within the U.S. would feel the shock as other airports buckle under the overflow.
This isn't an abstract policy fight. It's a direct hit on the daily lives, wallets and travel plans of ordinary Americans.
Everyday life would become more stressful and more expensive, not because of anything these people did, but because the Trump Administration turned a core federal function into a political weapon.
In the end, it's regular Americans--consumers, parents, workers and travelers -- who would bear the cost of a decision that disrupts the systems they rely on every day.
Like the Iran War, this revenge policy would be part of the destructive and divisive legacy of one man, Donald Trump, and one group of people, those who voted for him.