Greg Abbott Threatens Dallas, Houston Airports’ Grant Funds Over Islamic Washing Facilities

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport canceled plans to install a facility commonly 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.

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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. Abbott said the facilities “appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion” in his letter to the mayors and said funding would be revoked if their use continued.

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.

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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.”

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