Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin appeared on ABC News Live Tuesday and said to anchor Jay O’Brien that a man deported to El Salvador was an adjudicated member of MS-13.
At an April 4 hearing, United States District Judge Paula Xinis of the District of Maryland ordered the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 member, to the United States. The Supreme Court, however, ruled she exceeded her authority to require his return. The Supreme Court also said the United States should “facilitate” his return if he is released by El Salvador. O’Brien asked McLaughlin what evidence the administration had that Garcia was a member of the group. (RELATED: ‘False Sob Stories’: DHS Spox Lights Into ‘Mainstream Media’ For Doing ‘Bidding’ Of Gangs)
“I think what really matters to Americans is that this MS-13 gang member who, unfortunately, Jay, you and a lot of your colleagues have called ‘a Maryland man,’ when, in reality, he is a MS-13 gang member,” McLaughlin said before O’Brien interrupted her, demanding proof that he’s MS-13.
“There’s actually two separate immigration judges, Jay, who have confirmed and ruled that he is a member of MS-13,” McLaughlin told O’Brien.
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President Donald Trump issued several executive orders to address illegal immigration and border security, including designating Mexican drug cartels, the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) and MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations upon taking office Jan. 20. He invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed up the deportation of gang members on March 15.
“I can do this all day, Jay,” McLaughlin said after additional back-and-forth with O’Brien. “He is a member of MS-13. I don’t think you’d want to be his neighbor. I sure wouldn’t, and I don’t think many Americans watching would want to be this individual’s neighbor. He has been involved in human trafficking. He’s been involved in labor trafficking, and he should not be in this country.”
“So whether he’s in an El Salvador jail or a U.S. detention facility, I am so very glad, as are millions of Americans, that he is off of U.S. streets because, remember, Jay, who is MS-13? They maim. They rape. They kill Americans for sport, and the American people are done with it. They said so on November 5, 2024.”
El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, when questioned by the press during a Monday Oval Office meeting with Trump, rejected the notion that Garcia would be returned to the United States.
“You and I both watched the Oval Office yesterday where President Bukele said he was not planning on returning this terrorist to U.S. soil,” McLaughlin said, referencing how Bukele answered questions from CNN host and former Daily Caller White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins. “This guy was in our country illegally. He is an El Salvadorian citizen, and President Bukele gets to decide what to do with him.” (RELATED: ‘Nothing That Can Be Done’: CNN Legal Analyst Tells Panelist Deported MS-13 Member Isn’t ‘Coming Back’)
McLaughlin also said that O’Brien’s line of questioning sidelined victims of MS-13 and TdA.
“What the media really should be caring about, what really matters, is these victims of Tren de Aragua and MS-13, like this ‘Maryland man,’” McLaughlin said. “It’s horrible what’s happened to these people. And, you know, it’s kind of sad, the number of inquiries from the media I get every single day. Yet not one of them is about the American victims of these individuals. Instead, it’s just doing the bidding of these gang members.”
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