WASHINGTON _ When President Donald Trump said this week his administration is going after "blood-thirsty" criminal gangs like the notoriously violent MS-13, he added a menacing flourish: "Our guys are rougher than their guys."
The comment raised concerns that Trump was instructing immigration agents to use excessive force when going after suspected gang members.
Not so, Trump's top spokeswoman said on Thursday.
"I think the president means that our guys are going to do whatever it takes to protect Americans, protect American lives, protect our borders," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in response to a question about what Trump meant by "rougher."
Trump "wants people to do their jobs, not go beyond the scope of what they should do," Sanders said.
Trump's comment came during a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on Tuesday night. "We are throwing MS-13 the hell out of here so fast," he said, boasting that his administration is "liberating" towns and cities from gangs.
"And, well, I will just tell you this, we're not doing it in a politically correct fashion," Trump added. "We're doing it rough. Our guys are rougher than their guys."
Trump's comment was meant to "boost morale" among immigration officers looking to arrest and deport gang members, said one senior administration official, who would speak only without being identified to discuss the president's thinking.
As part of Trump's crackdown on immigrants in the country illegally, he has instructed the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to target a suspected gang member for deportation before that person has been convicted of a crime, said ICE director Thomas Homan.
Homan joined Sanders at her daily briefing at the White House. The two spoke to preview the president's trip to Long Island, N.Y., on Friday, where he will tout his administration's efforts against MS-13 and other gangs.
For Trump, who grew up in Queens, recent headlines about MS-13 violence in central Long Island have hit close to home. In April, four young men were found hacked to death in a park in Central Islip, N.Y., a senior administration official told reporters Thursday night.
"He is a New Yorker and he knows New York," the administration official said. "It is absolutely a personal issue. And he knows what's happening in New York _ and it's not just Long Island _ is a tragedy and there are communities like that all across America."
