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00:00Good morning, everyone, and thank you for coming on last minute's notice.
00:09I'm Tricia McLaughlin.
00:10I'm the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security.
00:14I'm joined by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and Madison Sheehan, the Deputy Director.
00:21Thank you for joining us to address a diplomatic and military security operation that was conducted
00:26yesterday by the U.S. government.
00:28We conducted a deportation flight from Texas to remove some of the most barbaric, violent
00:34individuals illegally in the United States.
00:37No country on earth wanted to accept them because their crimes are so uniquely monstrous
00:43and barbaric.
00:44These heinous individuals have terrorized American streets for too long.
00:50Every single one of them was convicted of a heinous crime, murder, rape, child rape, rape
00:57of a mentally and physically handicapped victim.
01:00Thanks to the courageous work of the State Department and ICE and the President's National
01:05Security Team, we found a nation that was willing to accept custody of these vicious illegal aliens.
01:12We are removing these convicted criminals from American soil so they can never hurt another
01:17American victim, American man, child, or woman.
01:22They can never attack witnesses, families, victims, or anyone else.
01:26Now, a local judge in Massachusetts is trying to force the United States to bring back these uniquely barbaric monsters
01:34who present a clear and present threat to the safety of the American people and American victims.
01:41While we are fully compliant with the law and court orders, it is absolutely absurd for a district judge
01:49to try to dictate the foreign policy and national security of the United States of America.
01:55These are the monsters that the district judge is trying to protect.
02:00The contrast is brutally stark.
02:04President Trump and Secretary Noem are working every single day to get these vicious criminals
02:10off of American streets, and while activist judges are on the other side fighting to get them back
02:18onto United States soil.
02:20Before I turn it over to Acting Director Todd Lyons, I would like to remind the journalists in this very room
02:26to do your job.
02:28We gave you the names of these monsters, as you have right in front of you.
02:33Now, tell the stories of the innocent Americans who they victimized.
02:37I implore you to stop doing the bidding of these disgusting individuals.
02:44Tell the stories of the innocents.
02:46It's the American victims who actually matter.
02:50Todd?
02:52Good morning. Thank you.
02:53So, these individuals that are up here today, these represent the true national security threats
02:59and public safety threats that ICE officers and agents nationwide go after.
03:03I just want to go over a few of the highlighted cases that you all have in front of you.
03:08So, for instance, we have an individual that's convicted of homicide and armed robbery
03:13and served 15 years in confinement.
03:15Due to countries that won't take their citizens back,
03:19this individual was released back into the community under ICE supervision
03:23to prey upon people again.
03:26Another individual sentenced to life in confinement, convicted of first-degree murder,
03:32his country would not take him back,
03:34forcing ICE to have to re-release him back into the community to re-offend.
03:39As Tricia highlighted before,
03:41we have an individual that raped and sexually assaulted a mentally handicapped victim.
03:47Because his country would not take him back,
03:50ICE had to find a third country to take him back so we can remove this public safety threat.
03:56You know, as a career law enforcement officer and a career officer with ICE,
03:59I've been dealing with these recalcitrant countries for years,
04:02having to see repeated murderers, sex offenders, violent criminals re-release back into the United States
04:10because their home countries would not take them back.
04:14Yet, under President Trump and under the leadership of Secretary Noem,
04:17we are now able to remove these public safety threats
04:20so they won't pry on the community anymore
04:22and they won't have any more victims in the United States.
04:25With that, I'll turn it over to my Deputy Director, Madison Sheehan.
04:27First of all, ICE would like to thank President Trump and Secretary Noem
04:33for their steadfast commitment to the American people and the men and women of ICE.
04:38Our commitment here at ICE remains the same,
04:40that we will remove the worst of the worst from your communities,
04:43including the list of people that are up on this board.
04:46As we work every day to make the American people safer,
04:49we see activist judges stepping in in a way that we have never seen before
04:54to put criminals first and not the American people.
04:57This judge wants these criminals, these rapists, murderers,
05:02out on the streets, in your communities.
05:04ICE will not let that happen and will continue to fight
05:07and put the American people first as the mandate President Trump received
05:11to make sure that we keep America safe.
05:15Thank you, Madison.
05:16And with that, we'll take just a few questions.
05:20Say your name and outlet, Ted.
05:21Ted Hessen with Reuters.
05:23Can you clarify these, are these eight people,
05:27people that you are trying to support to Sudan, South Sudan?
05:31And if so, why South Sudan?
05:34Where are they now?
05:36And are these the only eight on the flight, and are there others?
05:39These are the only eight on the flight.
05:40Because of safety and operational security,
05:43we cannot tell you what the final destination
05:46for these individuals will be.
05:48Brittany, Axios?
05:49The judge asked that you keep these individuals in U.S. custody
05:56once this flight lands.
05:58Is that being followed through?
06:00Has the flight landed yet?
06:01Do they remain on the plane, essentially?
06:03They're still in DHS custody as far as their exact whereabouts,
06:06again, because of operational security,
06:07and given these are such violent criminals,
06:10rapists, child rapists, as I've mentioned,
06:12we cannot disclose that.
06:13I'm sorry.
06:14One more follow-up on Rekalcic countries.
06:16As you're looking for these third countries,
06:18can you just elaborate on how you're working with the State Department
06:21to identify these potential partners,
06:23and what other countries are on the list?
06:25Obviously, El Salvador, potentially South Sudan.
06:28A few others have been floated.
06:29Could you just clarify that?
06:30Yes, State Department has been a fantastic partner
06:32in brokering these agreements,
06:34again, especially when it comes to truly the worst of the worst individuals,
06:37countries that did not want to accept these heinous individuals.
06:40We're grateful that we found a nation through the State Department to do that.
06:44Todd, would you like to speak third to these?
06:46No, I would just like to say that, you know,
06:49these individuals did receive due process.
06:51The Safe Third Country Agreement is in the Immigration National Act,
06:54which was enacted by Congress.
06:56So, as I said, as throughout my career with ICE
06:58and being a career law enforcement officer in immigration,
07:01we've dealt with these recalcitrant countries for years.
07:04And I would just say that through the, you know,
07:06partnership with the State Department, with Secretary Rubio,
07:10and under Secretary's own leadership and vision,
07:12we're able to do this under this administration
07:14to remove these public safety threats.
07:16And I would just like to take the time to thank, you know,
07:18the men and women of ICE who put their lives on the line every day,
07:21the officers of our special response teams
07:25and our high-risk teams that do transportation of these individuals.
07:29These are the most violent people that are in the U.S.
07:31These are the ones that you don't want in your community.
07:35These are the ones that we prioritize every day.
07:37So, again, under those partnerships, we're able to go ahead
07:41and remove these public safety threats from the community.
07:45Julia.
07:49Could you talk more about the agreement with South Sudan
07:52once these people were going to arrive there?
07:55Was the agreement that they would be incarcerated,
07:57much like the Sikha prison conditions in El Salvador?
08:00And were each of their home countries actually notified?
08:04In other words, did you try to send them back
08:06to their home countries before you made this decision?
08:09Yeah, I would caution you to make the assumption
08:11that their final destination is South Sudan.
08:14As far as that agreement goes,
08:16I would definitely refer you to the State Department's for specifics.
08:19But perhaps Madison or Todd, you'd like to add something here?
08:21So, sure.
08:22Yes, I can say that their home countries
08:25refuse to take these individuals back.
08:28ICE is bound by Zavidas, which is a Supreme Court decision.
08:32Again, I've always said ICE detention is impunitive.
08:35We detain and remove.
08:37After six months or 180 days,
08:38if we don't have a country that will take their citizens back,
08:41we do have an option to find a safe third country.
08:44And in all these cases, these individuals were from countries
08:47that were recrocitant or had impediments
08:50or life sentences that led to them
08:52not being able to move to their home nation.
08:55So for that, ICE would go ahead
08:56and follow the laws enacted by Congress
08:58to find a safe third country.
08:59South Sudan is considered a safe third country?
09:02So I can't talk as far as the State Department
09:04and agreements made at this administration
09:06as far as where this final destination is
09:10for these individuals.
09:10So again, I refer you to the State Department.
09:13I think we'll take one more.
09:15Priscilla?
09:18In a court declaration yesterday evening,
09:24one of the attorneys said that when she reached out
09:27about her Burmese client,
09:29that she was told by an officer that it was South Sudan.
09:32So can you confirm that it is one of the countries,
09:35at the very least, that you are working with
09:37to accept these nationals?
09:39And anything more that you can share about the process
09:42by which immigrants in detention are being notified
09:45if they're going to be sent to a third country
09:47and what that looks like?
09:48Yeah, absolutely.
09:49We are following due process under the U.S. Constitution.
09:52These individuals have been given,
09:54and their lawyers have been given,
09:56plenty of prior notice as far as those actual agreements.
09:59We can get to...
10:00Todd, anything to add there?
10:01No, I would just say the same thing,
10:02that we do follow the current laws and restrictions
10:07that do by us by safe third countries,
10:10and I would just say that I would refer you to the State Department,
10:12not necessarily on any final destination
10:14that these individuals may not be going to,
10:17but the State Department has a multitude of countries
10:19that they are working with for safe third countries,
10:21so I'll refer you back to the State Department.
10:22Just one quick question.
10:26You're saying to not conclude that they're going to South Sudan.
10:29DHS is streaming this press conference right now
10:31with the headline that says,
10:33DHS press conference on migrant flight to South Sudan.
10:36So is the department then confirming
10:39that this flight is going to South Sudan?
10:41We're confirming the fact that that's not their final destination.
10:44So, I mean, we have deportation flights
10:46that logistically move internally,
10:48domestically within the United States.
10:50That doesn't mean that their last stop
10:52is internally within the interior of our country,
10:54so absolutely not.
10:56But before we leave, you'll note that I have not given,
10:59we gave you the names of these heinous individuals,
11:02but we didn't say them out loud.
11:04But what we should be saying out loud
11:05is the name of the American victims,
11:07these people who they've victimized.
11:09And I've rarely seen anyone in our press corps
11:13actually write about American victims,
11:15so I would encourage you, I would implore you
11:17to start writing about Americans
11:19and not just doing the bidding
11:20of these disgusting individuals.
11:22Thank you for your time today,
11:24and we'll see you next time.
11:25Patricia, could you just clarify as a flight?
11:30Thank you all.