WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday rebuked mainstream media “outrage” over the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant sent to his home country’s Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison over an admitted “administrative error.”
Leavitt pushed back against descriptions of Garcia as “a Maryland father,” and contrasted the attention he has received with Rachel Morin, a Maryland mother who was killed in 2023 by an illegal immigrant in an unrelated case.
“It is despicable that many in the fake news media and the Democrat Party are more outraged over the deportation of an MS-13 illegal alien criminal than they are over the rape and murder of American women and children by illegal aliens who should have never been in our country in the first place,” Leavitt said during a press briefing.
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Karoline Leavitt just SHREDDED the media for defending the so-called “Maryland father” illegal MS-13 gang member over a real Maryland Mother, Rachel Morin, who was brutally murdered by a different illegal.
Why does the left always side with criminals over Americans?! pic.twitter.com/v02Y8KQs5d
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 15, 2025
Leavitt suggested the press has attempted to glamorize Garcia.
“Based on the sensationalism of many of the people in this room, you would think we deported a candidate for Father of the Year,” she said.
A Salvadoran native who unlawfully entered the U.S. during the Obama administration, Abrego Garcia was deported last month under the allegation that he is a member of MS-13.
In a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed that “intelligence reports” support the government’s assertion that Abrego Garcia is involved in human trafficking, stating that “he should be locked up.”
A federal judge and the U.S. Supreme Court directed the administration to “facilitate” Garcia’s return, but Leavitt explained that the government’s responsibility did not extend to releasing him from Salvadoran custody.
Her remarks came a day after Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, during which he said he would not be returning Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
In an unsigned order released last Thursday, the Supreme Court told the government to begin the steps of returning Garcia, denying in part the government’s application to vacate a lower court ruling.
Abrego Garcia filed a lawsuit against several federal officials, including Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons, claiming he was denied due process.
Garcia’s case underscores tensions over immigration, executive authority and judicial oversight. On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis — a Barack Obama appointee — admonished the U.S. Department of Justice for not complying with her order regarding Garcia.
Xinis has been considering issuing contempt proceedings against the Trump administration over Garcia’s situation.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
