A clash between the government and airports over a political message from Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, has grown most obvious in Detroit.
Detroit Metropolitan Airport has placed signs at the entrances to its security checkpoints, making clear that it doesn’t approve of the video message.
But because the areas are leased by the Transportation Security Administration, the airport operator isn’t in charge of those screens.
A bright yellow sign, with “attention” written in all caps, says, “The views expressed in this TSA-controlled video do not represent the views of the Wayne County Airport Authority.”
“The Wayne County Airport Authority does not engage in partisan politics,” it adds.
In a statement shared on X, the WCAA said it had asked the TSA to stop playing the video, and that the TSA had not sought its approval to play it.
Detroit Metropolitan is the country’s 20th busiest airport, handling 33 million passengers last year. It’s also Delta Air Lines’ second-largest hub and was ranked as travelers’ second-favorite North American mega airport in J.D. Power’s latest survey.
Several major airports have expressed their opposition to Noem’s video this week.
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In the message, Noem said TSA operations were impacted, and most of its employees were working without pay, because “Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government.”
“Our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government,” she added.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey — which oversees JFK, Newark, and LaGuardia airports — said in a statement to Business Insider that its “longstanding policies prevent airing of politically partisan messages at our facilities.”
“Airports are not airing the video on airport-controlled screens,” it added.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest airport, cited “federal and local airport policies” for not displaying the video on airport-controlled screens.
It added that the airport, which handles over 100 million passengers a year, “strives to maintain a neutral and welcoming environment for all travelers.”
Airports in Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Phoenix, Charlotte, and Boston also said they weren’t playing the video.
