White House presses Congress to pass 'Save America' Act, defends deportation-focused immigration agenda
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Summary
At a White House briefing, spokeswoman Caroline said the president wants DHS funded while insisting on prioritizing deportations of noncitizen criminals and pressed Congress to pass the Save America Act, which she said would require voter ID and remove noncitizens from rolls.
Caroline, the White House spokesperson, told reporters the president has two goals when it comes to the Department of Homeland Security: keep the government funded so agencies such as FEMA, the Coast Guard and the Secret Service continue to operate, and maintain a strict enforcement posture focused on removing criminal noncitizens.
"The president has two end goals," Caroline said. "One is to obviously keep the government funded and open ... Secondly, when it comes to any discussions about immigration policy, the president is never going to waiver in his commitment to allow immigration enforcement efforts in this country and to support ICE and border patrol and the deportation of illegal alien criminals."
The spokesperson urged Congress to pass the Save America Act, which she described as federal legislation that "will require voter ID to vote" and "require proof of citizenship to register to vote," and said it would direct states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls. She framed the measure as an integrity proposal the administration wants Congress to send to the president's desk.
Reporters pressed Caroline on a looming DHS funding deadline. She cautioned that failing to fund DHS would have "grave repercussions" for agencies and the people they serve, but said the administration would not concede on core immigration enforcement priorities. "We're not gonna negotiate policy from the podium," she said, adding that the president will make final decisions.
Caroline and other administration remarks repeatedly cited large enforcement figures — for example, asserting large increases in FBI arrests, and claiming nearly 1,000,000 deportations plus 2,000,000 "self-deportations" over the past year. Those numbers were presented by the spokesperson as administration data; the briefing transcript does not contain corroborating documentary evidence or on-the-record independent confirmation within the session.
On operational tactics, Caroline said the administration prioritizes convicted criminals and seeks cooperation from state and local officials to turn over such individuals to ICE, but she declined to pre-announce specific future DHS operations: "I don't broadcast any future action that may or may not happen, from the Department of Homeland Security."
Asked about criticisms that federal enforcement in some cities could be unwelcome, she said cooperation matters: "It makes it much easier when we have that level of cooperation and corroboration at the state and local level."
The press briefing did not record new legislation passed or any formal vote; reporters asked for clarifications and Caroline repeatedly framed the administration's demands as negotiation positions to be resolved with Congress.
