Islamic foot wash stations inside restrooms for the airport’s international terminal serve a “practical need” for travelers, Whitmire said in a statement. Abbott, meanwhile, has criticized such facilities as “special treatment” for Muslims, threatening to revoke state funds from airports in Houston and Dallas over the issue.
“The ablution room and adjoining prayer room are open to all travelers, employees and stakeholders with access to Terminal D, regardless of faith,” Whitmire said. “Nobody receives preferential access, and nobody is excluded.”
The Houston Airport System, which runs Bush and Hobby Airport and is overseen by officials appointed by Whitmire, paid for the ablution facilities with fees charged to the international airlines rather than public funds from the city or state, the mayor said.
Whitmire’s statement also notes that roughly one-fifth of all passengers in the airport’s international terminal departed on Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, airlines that serve Muslim-majority countries. Ablution facilities are preferable to having residents resort to using sinks for washing needs, Whitmire added.
The governor took aim at Houston’s largest airport on Friday, referring IAH as well as Dallas Fort-Worth International Airport to the U.S. Department of Transportation for investigation, the latest in state Republicans’ efforts to target what they cast as Sharia law and an “Islamic takeover” of Texas. The stations amount to religious discrimination because the airports do not offer standalone facilities for other faiths, Abbott alleged.
Officials at DFW said they were scrapping plans for new footwashing stations amid “elevated public interest” this week.
Meanwhile, Houston’s airport has had an ablution station connected to its Interfaith Chapel since 2024, installed under former Mayor Sylvester Turner. The facilities are used by Muslims who wash their bodies before prayer five times a day.