Gov. Abbott Threatens Airport Grant Funds Over Islamic Washing Facilities

The Texas Tribune

DALLAS, TX — Dallas Fort Worth International Airport canceled plans to install a washing facility used for Islamic prayer after Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday threatened to withdraw state and federal funding.

Abbott sent a letter to the North Texas airport’s CEO Christopher McLaughlin, as well as the mayors of Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth, stating his office was in the process of reviewing all grant funds over facilities in their cities’ airports. He also sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to refer the airports for federal investigations.

In a statement Saturday morning, a spokesperson for the airport said the design firm filling out the permit form for the facility made an “administrative error” and accidentally listed it as privately funded. The project was intended to be paid for by airport funds made through parking and concessions before it was cancelled.

At the center of the investigation and grant reviews are ablution facilities, used by Muslim people for wudu, in which hands and feet are rinsed prior to prayer.

“These ablution facilities appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion. That is illegal,” Abbott said in a news release announcing the grant reviews. “Both airports are government-owned facilities. The federal and state constitutions prohibit government from facilitating this sort of discrimination. Just as the government cannot favor the secular over the sacred, it also cannot favor one religious view over all others.”

Houston’s airport has had an ablution room since 2024, described as for use by people of all faiths. DFW told KERA that it has had a station since 2019. 

Shortly after Abbott’s public announcement about the grant reviews, a DFW airport spokesperson said in a statement that plans for the facility had been cancelled after deciding it “would not deliver the originally anticipated operational benefits.”

“Like all proposed projects, the airport ultimately considers the operational benefits, customer service impacts, operational risks and costs before approving them,” the statement read.

Abbott has pushed back recently against what some perceive as preferential treatment for the Islamic community. He also threatened to withhold $530,000 in grants for Grand Prairie unless the city canceled an event at a water park advertised as a “Muslims only” gathering.