Since becoming Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance has become one of the most vocal critics of the Biden administration's immigration policies and border plans. In recent weeks, he not only kickstarted the infamous false rumor that Haitians are eating pets in Springfield Ohio, but he has gone on record as saying undocumented immigrants are behind everything from higher crime rates to the rise in housing costs.
He has also shamelessly admitted to "creating stories" about immigrants to get the media's attention.
So it came as a surprise to many when, speaking at a Christian forum near Pittsburgh on Saturday, Vance promised a compassionate US border approach if he and Trump are elected come November:
"The Trump-Vance approach to the border is the way to maximize compassion, not just for our citizens, but for everybody. Border policy is compassionate, and I think that Republicans have to remind people that."
After his remarks, Vance responded to questions about how a Christian approach to the migrant crisis should look, highlighting the issue of missing migrant children in the U.S. which was recently laid bare in a damning report from the Department of Homeland Security:
"Right now in the United States, we have about 320,000 children that we have lost track of. Now, these are children, many of whom have been trafficked by drug traffickers, or, God forbid, even sex traffickers. The Democrats, meaning Kamala Harris, wants to tell you that the compassionate thing is to have a wide-open border. I think those 320,000 missing children would beg to differ. The compassionate thing is to control our border, find those children and punish the criminals mistreating them."
The cited report revealed that communication breakdowns between ICE and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have led to a failure to monitor location and status of unaccompanied immigrant children (UCs), a mishap that would account for more than 32,000 children failing to appear for their court hearing from 2019 to 2023.
Furthermore, ICE also failed to serve Notice to Appear (NTA) on more than 291,000 UCs, which suggests that the number of unaccompanied immigrant children who did not appear for their immigration court dates may be much larger.
Vance's comments received support from forum attendees, many of whom echoed concerns about the treatment of migrant children and questioned the current administration's policies, according to the New York Post. One attendee described the situation as "gross incompetence and criminal," while others voiced frustration over a perceived lack of care for U.S. citizens in the debate over immigration.
In addition to tougher border policies, Trump and Vance have proposed deporting up to 20 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., a figure disputed by the Department of Homeland Security, which estimates the number at 11 million. Vance has noted that their plan would begin with the deportation of 1 million individuals.
Vance is scheduled to debate Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, on Tuesday in New York City.
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