The Donald Trump posted on Monday a controversial video showing Border Patrol agents deporting alleged gang members to the tune of hit song 'Closing Time' by Semisonic. The band responded swiftly criticizing the decision.
In an exclusive statement to Rolling Stone magazine, the alt-rock band stated: "We did not authorize or condone the White House's use of our song in any way, And no, they didn't ask. The song is about joy and possibilities and hope, and they have missed the point entirely."
🎶You don't have to go home but you can't stay here🎶 @CBP pic.twitter.com/yWWhlvKQrb
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 17, 2025
The video shows two tattooed young men being secured in handcuffs on a runway by Border Patrol agents. It then cuts to a shot of them being escorted onto a plane in the background with a truck labeled "Border Patrol" taking up the foreground. The video is captioned with the lyrics from the song, "You don't have to go home but you can't stay here."
The post comes in the wake of the deportation of over 200 Venezuelan migrants, alleged by the Trump administration to be members of the Tren de Aragua (TDA) gang. The deportation flights took place despite US District Judge James Boasberg temporarily blocking the deportations earlier on Saturday.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt denied on Sunday that the Trump administration had defied the ruling, arguing that the judge's order was issued only after the aircraft had already left U.S. airspace.
The migrants arrived in El Salvador on Monday. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who has been an ally of Trump's, made a post on X mocking the order as the migrants had already arrived in the Central American country's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) when it was given.
Oopsie…
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 16, 2025
Too late 😂 pic.twitter.com/nDHL6deLJq
Bukele announced on Sunday that 238 members of Tren de Aragua were "immediately transferred to CECOT" and will remain there "for a period of one year (renewable)."
President Trump posted a statement on Truth Social personally thanking Bukele for accepting the migrants.
"These are the monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats. How dare they! Thank you to El Salvador and, in particular, President Bukele, for your understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership. We will not forget!"
El Salvador's mega-prison, built to house up to 40,000 inmates, has been a centerpiece of Bukele's tough-on-crime policies. His administration has used mass incarceration as a primary tool to dismantle criminal organizations, drawing both praise and criticism for its effectiveness and human rights concerns. The agreement with the Trump administration began to be negotiated during a visit by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in February.
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