It was a given that much of Monday's White House press briefing would revolve around recent actions by the Trump administration to remove Tren de Aragua and other illegal immigrant gang members from the country. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clearly was prepared for a barrage of questions on the topic, and, as with most of the administration's actions since President Donald Trump was sworn in on January 20, responded to them unapologetically. 

Asked by NBC's Kelly O'Donnell about concerns raised regarding due process and whether there could have been mistakes as to any of the individuals removed from the country, Leavitt affirmed that immigration officials are confident about the identities of those deported. 

NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell: “And for people who have due process questions about making certain
that there wasn't anyone who was swept up who did not meet the criteria that you laid out. Is there a way for the administration to provide more detail about how that. was determined who… pic.twitter.com/mVO1RXXPSz

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 17, 2025

O'DONNELL: And for people who have due process questions about making certain that there wasn't anyone who was swept up who did not meet the criteria that you laid out, is there a way for the administration to provide more detail about how that was determined — who the individuals were that met this deportation order?

LEAVITT: Yes, I can assure the American people that Customs and Border Patrol and ICE and the Department of Homeland Security are sure about the identities of the individuals who were on these planes and the threat that they pose to our homeland. They take this incredibly seriously. They are putting their lives on the line to deport these designated terrorists from our country, and they should be trusted to do that. And that's exactly what the American people elected this president to do.

In follow-up, CBS News' Ed O'Keefe signaled his skepticism as to the criteria employed for identifying those removed, but Leavitt didn't bat an eye. 

CBS’s @EdOKeefe: “[W]hat criteria, though, other than, say, tattoos, or maybe being in the wrong place at the wrong time are you — are they using to determine that someone is actually a member of one of these organizations?”@PressSec @KarolineLeavitt: “Intelligence and the men… pic.twitter.com/zEgB6lRPeo

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 17, 2025

O'KEEFE: [S]o you're saying definitively you can — the administration can prove — everyone that was put on those flights to El Salvador was either a member of Tren de Aragua, MS-13, or some other entity?

LEAVITT: Yeah. We've already provided the breakdown in the effort of transparency about the 261 illegal aliens who were deported: One hundred thirty-seven of those were deported under the Alien Enemies Act; 101 of those were Venezuelans removed via Title VIII, which, as you know, are just regular immigration proceedings; and 23 of them were MS-13, Salvadorian gang members. There were also two MS-13 ringleaders as part of that group of 23 who President Bukele particularly expressed his gratitude for their return so he can demand justice in his home country.

O'Keefe pressed again on the criteria:

O'KEEFE: [W]hat criteria, though, other than, say, tattoos, or maybe being in the wrong place at the wrong time are you — are they using to determine that someone is actually a member of one of these organizations?

LEAVITT: Intelligence and the men and women on the ground in the interior of our country who are finally being allowed to do their jobs. Their hands were tied under the previous administration, and as I said, they take their jobs very seriously. They should be trusted and respected by the American public with this operation, and of course, as I said to Kelly, the administration will provide all details to the questions that the court poses.

Leavitt there is signaling that the administration is prepared to face scrutiny by Judge Boasberg in Monday afternoon's hearing on the matter, set now for 5:00 p.m. Eastern. 

Report: The Reason Why WH Ignored Judge's Order Requiring Planeload of Gangbangers to Turn Around

DC Judge Who Tried to Stop Deportations Gets a Harsh Message From El Salvador's President

Leavitt closed out the briefing by punctuating her defense of the administration's actions with a rundown of the heinous crimes committed by deportees and a rap on the nose of the legacy media, which, rather than engaging in objective reporting about the facts on the ground, immediately did what it could to bat away the notion that the Biden administration was flailing on the immigration issue. 

Karoline Leavitt brought the RECEIPTS to end the press briefing today — putting liberal reporters who downplay the heinous acts of the TERRORIST group Tren de Aragua:

"Many of you in the mainstream media said that didn't happen. It turned out that it did, and because of the… pic.twitter.com/Gmlf1JTtX2

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 17, 2025

LEAVITT: Also, some of the crimes committed by these heinous criminals and individuals: kidnapping, sexual abuse of a child, robbery, aggravated assault on a police officer. I would remind everybody in this room that Tren de Aragua is a foreign terrorist organization operating within the United States of America because the previous administration allowed them to invade our country. These are monsters who tortured, raped, and murdered 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungary; they murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley; they led a multi-state sex trafficking operation involving smuggling women into the United States, holding them in stash houses in Louisiana, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia, and forcing them into prostitution. And they kidnapped and murdered a 33-year-old woman in Texas. They sexually and physically assaulted a woman and her daughter in Wisconsin. They conducted a mass shooting in Illinois. 

They peddled untraceable ghost guns across New York City; took over an Aurora, Colorado, apartment complex, where they kidnapped and tortured victims. And by the way, many of you in the mainstream media said that didn't happen. It turned out that it did, and because of the effective immigration policies of this administration, those foreign terrorists were detained, and they are no longer operating on American soil. And we have President Trump to thank for that!

We can also thank him for employing a press secretary who knows her stuff. 

Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left's lies, new legislation wasn't needed to secure our border, just a new president.

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