UPDATE: Dallas Airport Scraps Plans for Islamic Foot Washing Stations After Gov. Abbott Intervenes

Islamic Foot Wash Stations Coming To Red State Airport, Report Says

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Government-owned airports cannot favor one religion over all others.

DFW plans to install Islamic wudu washing facilities are illegal. I've directed a review of all state grants to both airports for possible revocation, and referred DFW & IAH to USDOT for investigation.

Texas… pic.twitter.com/XY58WAKJ8N

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 14, 2026

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Government-owned airports cannot favor one religion over all others.

DFW plans to install Islamic wudu washing facilities are illegal. I’ve directed a review of all state grants to both airports for possible revocation, and referred DFW & IAH to USDOT for investigation.

Texas will not allow illegal religious discrimination at taxpayer-funded facilities.

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Governor Greg Abbott today directed a review of all state grants to entities that operate airports in Texas, including Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), for possible revocation of active state grant funds and the denial of any future grants due to illegal religious discrimination at government-owned facilities. He also referred DFW and IAH to the U.S. Department of Transportation for investigation and enforcement.
DFW plans to install ablution facilities for Islamic washing rituals. IAH has already installed one such facility and an interconnecting prayer room.
In a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Governor Abbott requested that the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration immediately review the religious facilities and accommodations at DFW and IAH and take appropriate corrective action. The airports are recipients of federal funds and subject to conditions that require full compliance with laws prohibiting religious discrimination.
“These ablution facilities appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion. That is illegal,” said Governor Abbott. “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.”Upon acceptance of any grant award, recipients must certify compliance with all laws that prohibit discrimination.

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DFW told Fox News Digital Friday it had been evaluating a proposal to add ablution washing stations on the pre-security side of Terminal D, its international terminal, but accelerated that review in response to increased public attention.

“DFW was in the process of evaluating an internal proposal to add a set of ablution washing stations on the pre-security side of Terminal D, the international terminal. Like all proposed projects, the airport ultimately considers the operational benefits, customer service impacts, operational risks and costs before approving them,” the airport said.

“While that evaluation was planned, the airport accelerated its review due to elevated public interest this week and has determined not to proceed with the project as it would not deliver the originally anticipated operational benefits.”

The project was registered with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation July 31. The filing initially listed the project as privately funded, estimated its cost at $300,000 and indicated construction would be completed by the end of the year.

DFW previously said those details resulted from administrative errors by the airport’s outside design firm and stressed that the project had not received final approval.

“While the estimate noted was $300,000, that was a preliminary high estimate, and we expect the project, if it were approved to proceed, would cost closer to $120,000,” a spokesperson for DFW previously told Fox News Digital.

The airport said the design firm also mistakenly selected “privately funded” when submitting the regulatory filing.

“That was an error, and it should have indicated that airport funds would be used to pay for the work like all our projects,” DFW said.

DFW said it does not use taxpayer dollars for airport operations and instead relies on revenue streams, including parking and concessions.

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