A White House press briefing took a surprising turn when Karoline Leavitt called out a reporter who questioned the Trump administration’s sweeping deportations.

In a dramatic exchange, Leavitt lambasted The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg after he cited a court document suggesting that tattoos, hand signs, or even certain clothing brands could be used to classify someone as a member of Tren de Aragua (TdA).

The gang are a Venezuelan criminal syndicate that the administration has labeled a ‘foreign terrorist organization.’ 

‘You can get classified by simply having certain symbols in your tattoos and wearing certain streetwear brands,’ Feinberg began. ‘That alone is enough to get someone classified as TdA and sent to El Salvador.’

That assertion, detailed in the so-called Alien Enemy Validation Guide filed in federal court over the weekend, drew an instant rebuke from Leavitt.

‘That’s not true, actually, Andrew,’ she shot back. 

‘According to this document, it is,’ Feinberg responded.

‘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?

‘TDA is a vicious gang that has taken the lives of American women,’ Leavitt continued, 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,’ she continued.

‘And shame on you, and shame on the mainstream media, for trying to cover for these individuals.

‘This is a vicious gang, Andrew. This is a vicious gang that has taken the lives of American women.’ 

Feinberg remained silent during the tense exchange. His question appeared to reflect some concerns in the legal community about how the administration is determining gang membership.

Trump’s mass deportation campaign has accelerated under wartime powers not used since World War II.  

TdA is a transnational criminal enterprise that originated in Venezuela but has now spread across Latin America and, according to US officials, has begun operating in American cities. 

The group is known for a brutal cocktail of extortion, drug trafficking, and human smuggling.

In a Sunday night deportation operation, seventeen alleged gang members, including individuals tied to both TdA and MS-13, were flown to El Salvador aboard a US military aircraft. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the group included convicted murderers and rapists, and emphasized the administration’s resolve to remove ‘every foreign national who poses a threat to our communities.’

But the legal underpinnings of the action have come under intense scrutiny. 

President Trump’s March 15 invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime law designed to allow detention or removal of nationals from hostile nations, was the first time in modern history that it had been applied to a non-state gang and used for mass immigration enforcement.

The ACLU immediately sued, and a federal judge issued a temporary block on the policy. 

A list of the latest deportees, confirmed by the White House, shows 12 had criminal convictions, one self-identified as a gang member, and three were facing charges.

But civil rights attorneys argue the criteria used remain dangerously vague.

Central to the legal controversy is a court-filed document outlining the administration’s rubric for determining if someone is affiliated with TdA.  

It includes high-priority criteria such as prior convictions, communications with known gang members, or self-admitted affiliation. But lower-tier indicators such as specific tattoos, hand gestures, or streetwear brands, have triggered alarm.

Experts called by the ACLU say those markers are not reliable indicators of criminal activity, let alone of gang affiliation.

Nonetheless, Leavitt forcefully defended the methodology. 

‘There is a litany of criteria that they use to ensure that these individuals qualify as foreign terrorists and to ensure that they qualify for deportation,’ Leavitt said. 

‘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 added. 

‘They finally have a president who is allowing them to do their jobs – and God bless them for doing it.’

The administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act was blocked by a federal judge, but Trump’s legal team has already appealed to the US Supreme Court to reinstate it. 

In the meantime, deportations continue either under the contested wartime law or under standard immigration authorities.

On Capitol Hill, Democrats have accused the administration of racial profiling and unconstitutional behavior while Republicans have closed ranks around Trump’s deportation blitz, arguing how dangerous foreign criminals must be quickly removed.  

Tammy Bruce, a State Department spokesperson, declined to say under what authority the latest Venezuelans and Salvadorans were deported.