Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a Nashville press conference on July 18, 2025, to discuss arrests of immigrants during recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps. (Photo by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Airports in multiple states, including South Dakota, are not airing a video of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in which she blames the ongoing federal government shutdown on Democrats.
The video was promoted by the White House as being played at “every public airport in America.”
In South Dakota, a spokesperson for Rapid City Regional Airport said Wednesday it was not airing the video because the airport’s administration has not instructed staff do so. At Sioux Falls Regional Airport, Executive Director Dan Letellier said the video is not airing because the airport does not have monitors appropriate for the purpose. He said existing monitors are devoted to flight-related information.
Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport both confirmed to Arizona Mirror that they are not displaying the video.
Airport spokesman Ryan Smith said the video is not currently displayed at the airport due to the Mesa Gateway Airport Authority Board policy, which states that “(a)dvertising that discusses the topics or subjects of politics or religion, social society, or economics is prohibited.”
“Consistent with airport policy, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport declined to post the video,” Jon Brodsky, a spokesman for the state’s largest airport, said. Sky Harbor also has a policy that does not permit political content.
The Michigan Advance reports that spokespeople for both the Flint Bishop International Airport and Grand Rapids’ Gerald R. Ford International Airport confirmed Monday afternoon that they have not been playing the video.
Heidi Groenboom, communications and events associate for the Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority said that as of Monday afternoon, they had not received the video and that it was not playing at the airport.
New Jersey Monitor reports that the region’s three largest airports will not air the video, saying not only does it violate a ban on political advertising but it also violates the federal Hatch Act, which prohibits federal workers from engaging in politics on the clock.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a bistate agency that oversees Newark Liberty, LaGuardia and JFK airports, said airport-controlled screens will not play Noem’s video.
The 30-second spot violates the Port Authority’s longstanding policies that “prevent airing of politically partisan messages at our facilities,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
In the video, Noem — who formerly served as governor of South Dakota — said “Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government” while acknowledging the shutdown has affected operations, with many TSA employees working without pay.
“We will continue to do all that we can to avoid delays that will impact your travel. And our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government,” Noem said.
South Dakota Searchlight’s Joshua Hair contributed to this report.
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