Zach Bryan has defended an unreleased song snippet that criticizes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the lyrics provoked a swift rebuke from a senior Department of Homeland Security official and ignited a polarized reaction across political and music circles. The 29-year-old singer posted the minute-long teaser—captioned “the fading of the red, white, and blue”—to Instagram, featuring lines that reference immigration raids and frightened children, prompting DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin to tell TMZ that Bryan should “stick to ‘Pink Skies,’” a reference to his 2024 single. Bryan responded hours later on social media, saying the excerpt had been “misconstrued” and stressing that his intent was unity rather than partisanship.
The clip, from a track Bryan has identified to outlets as “Bad News,” contains the lyrics, “And ICE is gonna come bust down your door, try to build a house no one builds no more, but I got a telephone, kids are all scared and all alone.” The lines made the rounds on X and Instagram through the weekend after Bryan posted the rough recording on Friday, with conservative commentators accusing him of glamorizing resistance to law enforcement and fans defending the song as a portrait of fear in immigrant households. Local and national outlets that reproduced the words said the snippet was not accompanied by a release date or additional context beyond the caption.
The official response from DHS elevated the discourse beyond typical fan debate. “Stick to ‘Pink Skies,’” McLaughlin said, invoking the single from Bryan’s 2024 album The Great American Bar Scene and framing the teaser as an unnecessary foray into charged policy terrain. Music press reported the remark after DHS confirmed it had commented to entertainment media on Monday, underscoring how quickly the controversy moved from the singer’s account to the federal department that oversees ICE.
Within a news cycle, DHS doubled down with a recruitment-style video on its own channels that used Bryan’s 2020 song “Revival” over footage of ICE and Border Patrol operations, captioned with a line from the track—“We’re Having An All Night Revival.” The timing, arriving just after the “Bad News” teaser, was read by industry outlets as a pointed rejoinder that leveraged Bryan’s music to rebut his message. The agency did not release an extended written statement alongside the video, and DHS press officials did not elaborate beyond the earlier on-record criticism reported by entertainment publications.