For the second time, Westchester County is refusing to play a video produced by the Trump administration’s Homeland Security Administration that it wants played for passengers at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport screening facilities in all U.S. airports. The video blames Democrats for any extended delays passengers experience at airports due to the recent shutdown of Homeland Security when the agency’s funding ran out.
Instead of the Homeland Security video, passengers at the Westchester County Airport were seeing a video made by County Executive Ken Jenkins in which Jenkins urges patience and asks passengers to understand that TSA screeners, who were going without paychecks, should be supported and thanked for doing their jobs despite the difficult circumstances.
By not running the Homeland Security video, Westchester County Airport joins with other airports around the county such as LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy International, Newark, Seattle Tacoma International and Colorado Springs that have refused to run the video because of its partisan political propaganda nature.
The first time there was an issue regarding a video that the Trump administration wanted played at all air carrier U.S. airports was during the government shutdown that began Oct.1, 2025. Homeland Security produced a video featuring Kristi Noem, who then was secretary of the department, that Westchester and other airports refused to show. At that time, Jenkins said it was “inappropriate, unacceptable, and inconsistent with the values we expect from our nation’s top public officials …. the county finds the tone to be unnecessarily alarmist.”
In the new video the county produced for continuous playback on TV monitors at the airport, Jenkins tells passengers the TSA security workers are doing everything they can to move passengers safely and efficiently.
“We are working with them to help provide food and fuel as they go without pay,” Jerkins said in the video. “These professionals show up everyday with dedication, patience and professionalism. They keep millions of travelers safe even under difficult circumstances. No federal employee should be asked to work without pay.”
At some airports around the U.S., wait times in lines for screening increased dramatically after the funding shutdown began on Feb. 14. Delays stretched to three hours or more at some airports. The number of TSA screeners calling in sick rose to more than 6% nationwide, with some airports such as William P. Hobby Airport in Houston having to deal with more than half of the TSA screeners missing work.
Feeding Westchester announced that it was restarting a food program for unpaid federal workers at Westchester County Airport. Feeding Westchester in cooperation with the county provided food aid for them during the 2025 government shutdown. All TSA workers who live in Westchester County were eligible to register for the revived program due to begin March 18, and continuing every Wednesday that the shutdown was underway.
The plan called for each delivery to contain enough food to provide 21 meals for one week. The delivery service DoorDash was working with Feeding Westchester on delivery of the food boxes to workers’ homes.
