White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed frustration during a press briefing with NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez over questions regarding the deportation of individuals to El Salvador. Leavitt stated that these deportations are part of counterterrorism operations involving foreign terrorists, contrasting them with regular law enforcement actions targeting illegal criminals. Gutierrez insisted this information had not been adequately released by the Department of Homeland Security, leading to a contentious exchange about the nature of these operations and the public's right to information.
LEAVITT: I just told you the reason. It was a counterterrorism operation, a deportation of foreign terrorists, not illegal criminals who have been convicted of heinous crimes living in our American communities.
GUTIERREZ: Thank you, Karoline. I also want to thank your press office for releasing that information that you cited up there regarding the ICE arrests over the last couple of days, and I have them right here.
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