WASHINGTON—White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed viral deportation videos put out on social media by President Donald Trump’s administration, saying that the administration is “unafraid” to “take responsibility and ownership” of its border policies.
During Monday’s White House press briefing, The Daily Wire asked Leavitt about new content promoted on social media by the administration’s top accounts, including the White House, Trump War Room, the Rapid Response 47 account, and others.
One of these videos, posted Monday morning by the White House “X” account, depicts illegal immigrants being handcuffed and put on planes to the tune of Semisonic’s song “Closing Time,” specifically the lines: “You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.”
“I think the White House and our entire government clearly is leaning into the message of this President,” Leavitt explained, “and we are unafraid to double down and to take responsibility and ownership of the serious decisions that are being made.”
“The President was elected with an overwhelming mandate to launch the largest mass deportation campaign in American history, and that’s exactly what he is doing and to this very day, we are now, I think 56 or seven days into the administration, by my count, the President still receives an overwhelming public support for the policies that he is enacting, so we are unafraid to message effectively what the president is doing on a daily basis to make our communities safer.”
“The specific video you referenced,” added Leavitt, “I think it sums up our immigration policy pretty well: ‘You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.’”
🎶You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here🎶 @CBP pic.twitter.com/yWWhlvKQrb
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 17, 2025
Leavitt fielded a number of questions from reporters on Monday about the Trump administration’s deportation of more than 250 illegal alien gang members to El Salvador over the weekend. Those prisoners included 21 MS-13 gang members and more than 230 Tren de Aragua members, Leavitt noted on Monday.
On Saturday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued an order demanding that the deportations cease. The Trump administration ignored this order, and has since said that the flights were already in the air when the order was issued. The White House is also arguing that the judge did not have any “lawful basis” for such an order.
“The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order,” Leavitt said in a statement last night. “The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory. The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict.”
(Photo by STAFF/AFP via Getty Images)
“Moreover,” she added, “as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear — federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion. A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrying foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil.”
Border Czar Tom Homan sparked backlash during a Fox News appearance on Monday when he said of the judge’s order: “We are going to make this country safe again…I’m proud to be a part of this administration. We are not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care what the Left thinks. We’re coming.”
Asked what was coming next, he told reporters: “Another flight. Another flight every day.”
When a reporter in the briefing room pressed Leavitt about Homan’s remarks, suggesting that Homan was expressing defiance of orders coming from the federal bench, Leavitt responded: “Since you quoted Tom, I’ll quote Tom: ‘I don’t care what the judges think,’ but I can assure you that the administration is complying with the court order.”
She also told the reporter that the Trump “administration is complying with the court order,” that all flights were “subject to the judge’s written order departed before the written order,” and that the Trump White House is “encouraging illegal immigrants to actively self-deport.”
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[[{“value”:”
WASHINGTON—White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed viral deportation videos put out on social media by President Donald Trump’s administration, saying that the administration is “unafraid” to “take responsibility and ownership” of its border policies.
During Monday’s White House press briefing, The Daily Wire asked Leavitt about new content promoted on social media by the administration’s top accounts, including the White House, Trump War Room, the Rapid Response 47 account, and others.
One of these videos, posted Monday morning by the White House “X” account, depicts illegal immigrants being handcuffed and put on planes to the tune of Semisonic’s song “Closing Time,” specifically the lines: “You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.”
“I think the White House and our entire government clearly is leaning into the message of this President,” Leavitt explained, “and we are unafraid to double down and to take responsibility and ownership of the serious decisions that are being made.”
“The President was elected with an overwhelming mandate to launch the largest mass deportation campaign in American history, and that’s exactly what he is doing and to this very day, we are now, I think 56 or seven days into the administration, by my count, the President still receives an overwhelming public support for the policies that he is enacting, so we are unafraid to message effectively what the president is doing on a daily basis to make our communities safer.”
“The specific video you referenced,” added Leavitt, “I think it sums up our immigration policy pretty well: ‘You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.’”
🎶You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here🎶 @CBP pic.twitter.com/yWWhlvKQrb
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 17, 2025
Leavitt fielded a number of questions from reporters on Monday about the Trump administration’s deportation of more than 250 illegal alien gang members to El Salvador over the weekend. Those prisoners included 21 MS-13 gang members and more than 230 Tren de Aragua members, Leavitt noted on Monday.
On Saturday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued an order demanding that the deportations cease. The Trump administration ignored this order, and has since said that the flights were already in the air when the order was issued. The White House is also arguing that the judge did not have any “lawful basis” for such an order.
“The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order,” Leavitt said in a statement last night. “The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory. The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict.”
(Photo by STAFF/AFP via Getty Images)
“Moreover,” she added, “as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear — federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion. A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrying foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil.”
Border Czar Tom Homan sparked backlash during a Fox News appearance on Monday when he said of the judge’s order: “We are going to make this country safe again…I’m proud to be a part of this administration. We are not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care what the Left thinks. We’re coming.”
Asked what was coming next, he told reporters: “Another flight. Another flight every day.”
When a reporter in the briefing room pressed Leavitt about Homan’s remarks, suggesting that Homan was expressing defiance of orders coming from the federal bench, Leavitt responded: “Since you quoted Tom, I’ll quote Tom: ‘I don’t care what the judges think,’ but I can assure you that the administration is complying with the court order.”
She also told the reporter that the Trump “administration is complying with the court order,” that all flights were “subject to the judge’s written order departed before the written order,” and that the Trump White House is “encouraging illegal immigrants to actively self-deport.”
“}]]
