Country star Zach Bryan was trolled by the Department of Homeland Security after he stirred controversy with a new song that takes aim at U.S. immigration enforcement.
Bryan shared a preview of his new track “Bad News” on Instagram Sunday, featuring lyrics that reference ICE raids and concerns about the direction of the country.
The post included the caption, “the fading of the red white and blue.”
In the video, Bryan sings, “ICE is gonna come bust down your door. Try to build a house, no one builds no more. Well I got a telephone, kids are all scared and all alone. The bars start bumping, the rocks start rolling, the middle finger’s rising and it won’t stop showing, got some bad news.”
He continues with, “The fadin’ of a red, white, and blue. The fading of a red, white and blue.”
DHS clapped back at the country singer by posting a video on Wednesday that was set to his 2020 hit “Revival.”
In the video, ICE and Border Patrol agents face off with protesters, which resulted in mass arrests.
We’re having an All Night Revival pic.twitter.com/o7q8DExPra
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 7, 2025
DHS captioned its video “We’re Having An All Night Revival” in reference to Bryan’s new song.
Homeland Security Secretary also called out Bryan after she listened to the new song.
“I hope he understands how completely disrespectful that song is, not just to law enforcement but to this country,” Noem told Benny Johnson in an interview Tuesday.
“To every single individual that has stood up and fought for our freedoms,” she added.
“He just compromised it all by putting out a product such as that, that attacks individuals who are just trying to make our streets safe.”
BREAKING: Secretary Kristi Noem flames country singer Zach Bryan.
I just asked Noem about the new Zach Bryan song attacking ICE. Noem went scorched-earth calling the woke singer “completely disrespectful” to the law enforcement that protect him.
Secretary Noem: "I hope Zach… pic.twitter.com/MPXuVshPnM
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 7, 2025
Noem also told Johnson that she has never been a fan of Bryan’s music.
“Zach, I didn’t listen to your music. I’m happy about that today,” she remarked. “That makes me very happy that I never gave you a single penny to enrich your lifestyle, if you truly believe what that song stands for.”
The lyrics were quickly met with criticism from many in the country music world, who saw them as an attack on law enforcement.
Country singer John Rich mocked Bryan’s stance on X, joking, “Who’s ready for the Zach Bryan-Dixie Chicks tour? Prob a huge Bud Light sponsorship for this one.” Rich later added, “Nashville is full of guys like this.”
Another viral post read, “Dear Zach Bryan, F*** you. Sincerely, American Patriots. ICE agents risk their lives daily. Violent leftists throw bricks at them, attack them, spit at them, even shoot at them. And this is the song he released. Career over.”
Country superstar Zach Bryan takes aim at ICE, claiming the country is fading in a snippet from his upcoming song “Bad News.”
“Cocky motherf*ckers ain’t they. And ICE is gonna come, bust down your door. The fading of the red, white, and blue”
He just drew over 112,000 fans to… pic.twitter.com/b84EtNYCRR
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 6, 2025
Conservative commentator Benny Johnson also weighed in, referencing Bryan’s recent success.
“’Cocky motherf****** ain’t they. And ICE is gonna come, bust down your door. The fading of the red, white, and blue.’” He just drew over 112,000 fans to what became the largest concert in U.S. history last week. Now, that will never happen again. When will they learn?” Johnson posted.
Bryan released a statement defending his song Tuesday night on Instagram.
“When you hear the rest of the song, you will understand the full context that hits on both sides of the aisle,” Bryan said. “Everyone using this now as a weapon is only proving how devastatingly divided we all are. We need to find our way back.”
Zach Bryan calling cops cocky mother fuckers is certainly rich.
There are multiple videos of him disrespecting and big timing local authorities after he broke the law.
— Howie (@HowieLongggg) October 6, 2025
“I served this country. I love this country and the song itself is about all of us coming out of this divided space. I wasn’t speaking as a politician or some greater-than-thou a–hole, just a 29-year-old man who is just as confused as everyone else,” he continued.
“To see how much s–t it stirred up makes me not only embarrassed but kind of scared. Left wing or right wing, we’re all one bird and American.”
Bryan pointed out that he supported “neither of these radical sides,” and said he was trying his best, “but we all say things that are misconstrued sometimes.”
BREAKING: Zach Bryan has just put out a statement: pic.twitter.com/3AmwFUcZkc
— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) October 7, 2025
“I am SO proud to have served in a country where we can all speak freely and converse amongst each other without getting doxxed or accosted on the internet or worse; the violence and heartbreak we’ve faced in the last few months!” his post concluded.
Bryan, who has previously shown admiration for President Trump, faced renewed attention for those comments.
After the attempted assassination of Trump in July 2024, Bryan wrote online, “I don’t support Trump or Biden but the man got shot in the ear, head… and then fist bumped in the air. That is sick, dude!”
The country star was also photographed with Trump earlier this year at the Super Bowl.
The backlash to Bryan’s new lyrics comes as federal immigration enforcement ramps up nationwide under Trump’s administration.
ICE reported 32,809 enforcement arrests in the first 50 days of Trump’s presidency, compared to just over 33,000 during the entire previous fiscal year, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Operations in California, Florida, and Chicago have become flashpoints, with activists organizing demonstrations against deportations.
On Monday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order creating “ICE Free Zones,” which block immigration agents from accessing city-owned property.
His office said the policy was designed to protect Chicago’s immigrant communities.
The administration has also deployed National Guard troops to several cities to restore order after protests erupted in response to the surge in enforcement.
Illinois, Oregon, and California have sued the Trump administration, alleging that the federal government’s troop deployments violated state sovereignty.
An appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments this week on whether the administration can move forward with deploying additional troops to Portland.
Despite the legal fight, 400 National Guard members from Texas arrived in Illinois on Tuesday to assist local law enforcement.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker accused the president of using the deployments for political theater, adding that the White House gave him no prior notice of the deployment.
The debate over immigration enforcement has also spilled into the entertainment world.
During Monday’s episode of “The Daily Show,” host Jon Stewart slammed ICE as a “well-funded paramilitary group,” claiming it targets the vulnerable.
“ICE went from deporting the worst of the worst to throwing grandmothers onto linoleum and zip-tying American children,” Stewart said.
He accused Democrats of offering “petty gestures of restroom resistance” instead of taking meaningful action.
Stewart played a CNN clip reporting that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had recently been blocked from entering a city building in Illinois.
“Victory is ours!” he shouted sarcastically, mocking the incident as an example of hollow resistance.
“Look, I’ve given Democrats an enormous amount of shit for their poor leadership: lack of specific and actionable plans, terrible messaging, abysmal wordplay. Did I mention poor leadership?”
“Standing up for 75 million Americans in this moment to defend the rights of people to go into a little less medical debt seems like the least they can f**king do,” he added.
Stewart concluded his segment by suggesting that Republicans don’t have a “100 percent mandate” to enact their agenda.
“They’ve just caught a constitutional, administrative, and logistics break,” he said.
Meanwhile, former CNN anchor Don Lemon attempted to find critics of Trump’s immigration raids on a livestream filmed in New York City but got an unexpected response.
Lemon approached several people on the street, eventually interviewing one man who said he fully supported the ICE crackdowns.
“How do you feel about the ICE raids?” Lemon asked. “I feel good about them,” the man replied.
“You want them to crack down?” Lemon pressed. “More, yes! Been wanting it for years — all my life!” the man replied enthusiastically.
When asked if he supported agents “roughing people up,” the man objected.
“Nah, nah. That s**t crazy. Don’t put your hands on nobody, that’s crazy. Don’t hurt nobody. Do it the legal way,” he said.
“At the same time, get them out of here! Get them all out of here. Please and thank you!”
He then raised his fist and shouted, “Trump four more years for that! Just for that!”
When Lemon asked if he voted for Trump, the man revealed that he couldn’t due to losing his voting rights years ago but still said he wanted Trump to have another term.
“Just because I want for him to concentrate on nothing but immigration and getting them out of here, just for that!” he said with a grin.