Karoline Leavitt berates reporter over question on WH deportation policy for Tren de Aragua members

WASHINGTON, DC: Things got heated at a White House press briefing when Karoline Leavitt shut down a reporter for questioning the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation policies—especially when it came to suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA).

In a heated exchange on Monday, March 31, the Independent’s Andrew Feinberg pressed Leavitt on a bombshell court document suggesting that something as simple as a tattoo, a hand sign, or even streetwear brands could be enough to label someone as a TdA member—and ship them off to El Salvador.

"You can get classified by simply having certain symbols in your tattoos and wearing certain streetwear brands," Feinberg said, referencing the Alien Enemy Validation Guide that surfaced in federal court over the weekend. "That alone is enough to get someone classified as TdA and sent to El Salvador," he added.

Karoline Leavitt goes off on reporter

Karoline Leavitt wasted no time in shutting down Andrew Feinberg’s claim. “That’s not true, actually, Andrew,” she shot back.

But Feinberg wasn’t backing down either. “According to this document, it is,” he countered.

“No,” Leavitt insisted. “According to the Department of Homeland Security and the agents—have you talked to the agents who have been putting their lives on the line to detain these foreign terrorists who have been terrorizing our communities?” she asked.

She then drove home just how dangerous the administration believes TdA to be.

"TDA is a vicious gang that has taken the lives of American women," she declared, her voice rising. "And our agents on the front lines take deporting these people with the utmost seriousness. There is a litany of criteria that they use to ensure that these individuals qualify as foreign terrorists and to ensure they qualify for deportation."

"And shame on you, and shame on the mainstream media, for trying to cover for these individuals," she added. "This is a vicious gang, Andrew. This is a vicious gang that has taken the lives of American women."

The DHS document that raised eyebrows

After the press briefing, Andrew Feinberg posted the DHS Tren de Aragua Validation Guide online to prove he wasn’t just making things up. 

According to the document, a foreign national can be classified as a TdA member if they accumulate eight points across 20 different criteria.

What set off alarm bells for Feinberg and others was that tattoos and certain types of clothing alone could be enough to meet the threshold for deportation. The document stated that having tattoos indicating gang affiliation or wearing clothing associated with TdA each counted for four points. 

If someone had both, that would already be enough to get them flagged and deported, Mediaite reported.

The guide outlined how anyone scoring eight or more points was automatically validated as a TdA member and subject to deportation. Those with six or seven points were reviewed on a case-by-case basis, while those with five or fewer weren’t classified as members—though they could still face removal proceedings under separate immigration laws.

Civil rights groups raise concerns over deportation policy

Legal experts and civil rights advocates, particularly those with the ACLU, were quick to sound the alarm. They argued that body art and clothing were weak indicators of actual gang activity and that the administration’s methods could lead to wrongful deportations.

Leavitt, however, refused to back down. Instead, she made it clear that the deportation crackdown was just getting started.

"The president made it incredibly clear to the American public that there would be a mass deportation campaign—not just of foreign terrorists, but also illegal criminal aliens who have been wreaking havoc on American communities," she declared. "They finally have a president who is allowing them to do their jobs—and God bless them for doing it."

Following the exchange, Feinberg took to social media to double down on his concerns.

"Obviously TdA is bad and if someone is a TdA member and deportable they should be deported," he wrote. "But one would hope our government, with all its resources, can do more to figure out who’s who than go entirely off wardrobe and body art—if the result is being sent to a foreign supermax prison," he added.