The explosive episode was the latest instance of White House officials dodging questions regarding the justification of Trump’s cruel immigration policies

Hundreds of Venezuelan migrants were unlawfully deported to a prison in El Salvador in March (Image: Getty Images)

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday became livid when a reporter indicated the Trump administration unlawfully deported hundreds of Venezuelan migrants over their tattoos, which it claimed were gang affiliated without providing evidence.

Leavitt lost her temper while taking questions from reporters outside the White House. Journalist Andrew Feinberg of the Independent asked Leavitt how a migrant can get “classified as a Tren de Aragua member based on whether their tattoos have certain symbols.”

“That alone is enough to get someone classified as TDA and sent away to El Salvador?” Feinberg asked. The Trump ally lost her cool. Leavitt started by denying the reporter’s claim, pointing to documents by the Department of Homeland Security that list the heinous crimes of the TDA gang—including the “terrorization” of Americans and violence against women. Leavitt offered Feinberg no evidence that her claims were true.

Leavitt seemingly justified the ousting of migrants who were no gang affiliated (Image: FOX)
She went on a minute-long tirade about how President Donald Trump is trying to “save” Americans from “foreign terrorists” by unjustly ousting undocumented aliens from the country without due process. She also tried to justify the deportation of non-TDA members by adding the President promised to conduct mass deportations of “criminal aliens.”

“There is a litany of criteria [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents use to ensure these aliens qualify as foreign terrorists and qualify for deportation,” Leavitt snapped. There has been a plethora of cases in recent weeks involving the cruel deportation of migrants accused of being affiliated with TDA with no evidence. Multiple families have come forward saying their loved ones had vanished.

The Trump administration has yet to justify the deportations with concrete evidence (Image: Getty Images)
The White House is also seeking to deport legal US resident Mahoud Khalil, 30, who it accuses of spreading “pro-Hamas” propaganda pamphlets. Officials have failed to present evidence of Khalil’s “anti-American” and “pro-Hamas” activities.

Leavitt’s tantrum Monday was another instance of the Trump administration verbally justifying the unlawful deportation of migrants by fear mongering instead of providing tangible, concrete evidence. The press secretary then changed the subject, telling Feinberg “shame on you,” for siding with illegal immigrants.

In March, Trump resorted to invoking a centuries-old wartime law to conduct mass deportations (Image: AP)
“The President made it incredibly clear to the American public that there would be a mass-deportation campaign of not just foreign terrorists, but illegal criminal aliens,” she said parroting Trump’s inflammatory terminology. “They have been wreaking havoc in American communities. Shame on you and shame on the mainstream media for trying to cover for these individuals. This is a vicious gang that has taken the lives of American women.”

Feinberg is continually cut off by Leavitt, who praises the ICE agents “putting their lives on the line” for Americans, while he tries to justify his argument. “We finally have a President who lets ICE agents do their job and thank god they’re doing it.”