Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday that plans for Islamic wudu washing stations at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport are illegal. He ordered a review of state grants going to DFW and Houston’s Bush Airport and sent both to the U.S. Department of Transportation for investigation. In a post on X, he wrote that government-owned airports can’t favor one religion over others. The post sparked a lot of online talk, with many people pointing out that similar stations already exist at the airports and asking if those would get looked at too. DFW later said it was dropping the new plans.
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
In the post, Abbott wrote that “Government-owned airports cannot favor one religion over all others” and that “DFW plans to install Islamic wudu washing facilities are illegal.” He added that he had directed a review of all state grants to both DFW and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) for possible revocation and referred the airports to the U.S. Department of Transportation for investigation. He concluded, “Texas will not allow illegal religious discrimination at taxpayer-funded facilities.”
In accompanying letters, Abbott stated that the facilities “appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion” and that “That is illegal.” He noted that IAH already has an ablution facility connected to a prayer room. DFW later said it would not proceed with the new stations after accelerating its review amid public interest. The original post does not show the facilities themselves or any on-site activity.
Responses to the Texas Airport Funding Review
Several commenters focused on facilities already operating at the airports. One asked, “Any chance we can remove the fully operational ones at the Houston airport?!”…