DALLAS — Gov. Greg Abbott is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to "review" Islamic ritual washing stations in operation at DFW International Airport and Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport. Abbott's request escalates a fight that began last week after a proposed plan to build more wash stations at DFW Airport's Terminal D sparked online conversations. The airport has since scrapped ...

Greg Abbott speaks during a press conference on July 29, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas.

Elvis Martinez-Cartagena/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS

DALLAS — Gov. Greg Abbott is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to "review" Islamic ritual washing stations in operation at DFW International Airport and Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Abbott's request escalates a fight that began last week after a proposed plan to build more wash stations at DFW Airport's Terminal D sparked online conversations. The airport has since scrapped those plans after Abbott referred the matter to the U.S. Department of Transportation for investigation.

But now Abbott has taken issue with wash stations that DFW Airport already offers in its Terminal D interfaith chapel, as well as at a wash station in service at IAH. Wash stations like the ones the project proposed are commonly used to perform Wudu, a ritual purification practice in Islam.

"Public statements concerning both DFW and IAH have already admitted that these discriminatory facilities are funded by the airports," Abbott said in his letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon. "Yet, these stations are designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion. They are not comparable to any existing “interfaith chapels,” which are open and available to all, because (in these particular instances) they are clearly purposed to benefit the Muslim population alone."

The Dallas Morning News reached out to DFW Airport for comment but it did not provide a response by publication time.

Abbott said in the letter that he was "unaware" of either airport installing "standalone facilities" for other religions represented in Texas.

"It goes without saying: The U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from facilitating this sort of discrimination," Abbott wrote. "The federal government exercises primary authority over security and access within airport terminals, including the authority to inspect and regulate terminal facilities. And because the airports receive federal funds, they are subject to numerous conditions attached to that funding — including the requirement to comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination and protecting the rights of all Americans."

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