Senior Justice Department adviser Alina Habba dismissed reports that President Donald Trump is unhappy with the optics of recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, telling Newsmax on Tuesday night that the administration is focused on removing dangerous criminals from U.S. communities.
Habba responded to reporting suggesting Trump had concerns about how ICE raids are being portrayed, particularly amid high-profile protests in Minnesota and other states.
She told Newsmax's "Finnerty" that the criticism ignores the criminal histories of those being arrested and distracts from what she described as the administration’s core public safety mission.
“These people are rapists. They’re criminals — and there’s not enough attention on that,” Habba said.
She stressed that "people are not understanding the fundamental importance of cleaning up the streets and what this administration is focused on. I know the president is really proud" of what is being accomplished.
Habba pointed to Trump's White House remarks earlier in the day, saying that "he stood up and showed you pictures of every single person that was arrested. Their crimes — rapists, drug dealers, gangs, assaults — one individual had 24 prior arrests."
According to Habba, the administration believes media coverage and activist demonstrations have shifted the focus away from those records and toward the protests themselves, creating what she characterized as a distorted narrative around immigration enforcement.
She also referenced a viral video showing an ICE officer confronting demonstrators.
Habba said the video was of an "ICE officer pulling down his window and saying to those protesters that day, 'what are you guys protesting, we are just trying to arrest a rapist and take him off of your streets to make Minneapolis safer for you.' It's so crazy what I'm seeing."
Habba said that exchange underscored the administration’s position that enforcement actions are being misrepresented.
The comments came on the one-year anniversary of the Trump administration, as officials prepare to enter their second year, with immigration enforcement remaining a central policy priority.
Habba said the president is proud of the administration’s record and indicated the White House intends to continue highlighting what it views as tangible public safety results from ICE operations.
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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