President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security was compelled to issue a “fact check” after the establishment media dubbed an illegal alien as an “LA Man.”
In a Tuesday post, the DHS called out various media outlets for what it called “disingenuous” coverage of a recent Immigrant and Customs Enforcement detainee.
“Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) set the record straight about Omar Pulido-Bastida — a Mexican illegal alien — who was charged with spitting on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Los Angeles (LA),” the agency wrote.
“While the media has disingenuously called Pulido-Bastida a ‘L.A. man,’ he is NOT a U.S. citizen, and he has an extensive, violent criminal history.”
Included in the post were images of Pulido-Bastida, as well as various headlines.
One such headline read: “LA man faces 8 years in prison for ‘spitting at an ICE agent’ after being charged with assaulting a federal employee.”
U.K. outlet The Independent was called out specifically for that one, and on social media, as well:
Omar Pulido-Bastida, is a previously deported Mexican national – NOT a LA man. He is facing federal assault charges for allegedly SPITTING on an ICE agent.
This criminal illegal alien is who the rioters are fighting to protect. pic.twitter.com/rn5lJovqzi
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 17, 2025
Do you watch any mainstream news outlets?
“Pulido-Bastida, the media’s so-called ‘L.A. man,’ has also previously been convicted of robbery and has been arrested for both murder and assault,” the DHS continued in its release. “He was previously deported before he illegally entered the country again. This is just the most recent example of how the media has deceptively portrayed criminal aliens to the public.
“The media’s consistent and duplicitous mischaracterization of illegal aliens as a ‘L.A. man,’ ‘Maryland man,’ and other misleading descriptors is an attempt to garner sympathy for murderers, drug and human traffickers, pedophiles, rapists, and violent criminals,” the department continued. “DHS will continue to push back on the false narratives hiding the facts about illegal alien crime.”
The “Maryland Man” reference is about the highly publicized case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal alien residing in Maryland that had become something of a rallying cry for Democrats.
(Democrats have come under fire for their brazen support of Abrego Garcia.)
DHS rattled off a number of headlines that adopted similar “duplicitous” descriptions, including a “Brooklyn man” and a “Georgia man.”
“The media is attempting to force feed Americans that this is a ‘L.A. Man’ — it’s not,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “This is a criminal illegal alien who should have never been in our country.
“This previously deported illegal alien criminal spit on an ICE law enforcement officer,” she continued.
“Too many members of the media continue to purposefully mislead the public about illegal alien crime. Americans deserve to know the facts.”
Illegal immigration has been, perhaps, the key issue of both of Trump’s winning presidential campaigns. It’s something the president and his administration have given much time and attention to.
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