White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre faced tough questions from Fox News' Peter Doocy. He asked about illegal immigrants with serious criminal records in the U.S.
Jean-Pierre pushed back, calling the numbers a "false representation of the data."
Doocy pressed further, mentioning 13,000 convicted murderers. "How much danger are U.S. communities in right now?" he asked.
Jean-Pierre replied, "It's been fact-checked by multiple outlets. That has been debunked. So we have to call that out."
Doocy wasn't satisfied and asked, "Can you clarify what the misrepresentation is?"
Jean-Pierre emphasized the need for accurate reporting. "We can't confuse the American people or lie," she said.
She also pointed out that returns and removals in the past year were higher than during previous administrations since 2010.
Data shared with Republican lawmakers showed 425,431 convicted criminals and 222,141 with pending charges among noncitizens in removal proceedings.
Criminal convictions included assault, burglary, drug offenses, and homicide. The Department of Homeland Security clarified that some individuals had entered the country decades ago and may already be in custody.