An on-air exchange between a senior Department of Homeland Security official and CNN anchor Pamela Brown highlighted growing tensions between the Trump administration and national media outlets over immigration enforcement and public safety reporting.
Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, appeared on CNN to discuss recent immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis.
During the exchange, McLaughlin accused major media outlets of failing to report on the nature of the crimes committed by individuals arrested during federal and local operations, while focusing instead on criticism of law enforcement.
“Pamela. The last five weeks, we have arrested 2500 criminal, illegal aliens off of the streets of Minneapolis,” McLaughlin said.
As Brown attempted to interject, McLaughlin pushed to continue her remarks.
“If I can finish, if I can make my point, I appreciate your having me but I do want to be able to make my point,” McLaughlin said.
Brown responded, “Sure.”
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McLaughlin then detailed what she said were serious crimes linked to individuals arrested during the operations, arguing that the public is not being fully informed about the scope of enforcement actions or the danger posed by those taken into custody.
“The point of the matter is, I have not seen CNN cover who some of those individuals are,” McLaughlin said.
“An individual from Ecuador. He murdered his three month old son, an individual who is perpetuating a human slavery and human trafficking, scores and scores of murders, child pedophiles.”
She questioned why those cases, she said, were not receiving national attention.
“Why does the media not talk about that?” McLaughlin asked.
McLaughlin went on to criticize what she described as a pattern of media narratives that focus on condemning law enforcement officers while ignoring both the risks they face and the outcomes of their work.
“We continue to see that people love to demonize law enforcement, vilify them as they’re facing 1,000% increase in assaults against them,” she said.
She argued that this focus sidelines what she called the “great work” being done by officers on the ground.
“And yet we’re not talking about the great work that they’re doing on the ground, the fact that they are risking their lives day in and day out, to get these criminals off the ground,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin also said the arrests included individuals tied to organized crime and national security threats.
“Gang members known and suspected terrorists,” she said.
“These are all the people that we’ve arrested in Minneapolis.”
According to McLaughlin, DHS leadership under President Donald Trump has made transparency a priority when it comes to immigration enforcement.
“And DHS has and Secretary Noem and President Trump, have done a phenomenal job of trying to give people transparency on who we are arresting,” she said.
She expressed frustration that, despite those efforts, the public discussion continues to focus on past controversies rather than current enforcement results.
“And yet we’re standing here talking about relitigating cases over and over,” McLaughlin said.
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