Senator JD Vance, Donald Trump's running mate in the 2024 presidential election, made a series of campaign stops in the battleground state of Arizona on Tuesday, further raising the stakes of the GOP's stance on immigration by suggesting a plan to not only end key programs which provide legal residency to hundreds of thousands of immigrants but also deporting those who have benefited from them.
First off, Vance criticized what he called "mass parole" and "mass grants" of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) at a campaign event in Peoria.
There, he argued that such programs should not be used to provide broad legal protections ."Of course, you're going to have people fleeing from tyranny, but that happens on a case-by-case basis, not by waving the magic government wand" said Vance, according to a report by The New York Times.
Over 850,000 immigrants have legal residency through the Temporary Protected Status program in the U.S., created by Congress in 1990 for people fleeing war and other crises in their home countries. It currently grants legal protection to immigrants from 16 countries, with most coming from Venezuela, El Salvador and Haiti.
Later on, in Tucson, Vance addressed questions about whether the policies he mentioned earlier would apply to recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that protects individuals brought to the U.S. as children from deportation. While Vance did not directly mention DACA, he did say that
We've got to be willing to deport them."
Vance's comments echoed Trump's previous statements aimed at federal programs for immigrants including his recent pledge to revoke the CHNV parole program and plans to end the CBP One App, which he equated to a 'phone App for smuggling illegals'.
He's also specifically targeted the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program when referring to Haitian immigration, which he has attacked time and time again after the infamous "pet-eating" false claims concerning residents of Springfield, Ohio, went viral back in early September.
In all, up to 2.7 million individuals could lose protection from deportation according to a recent report by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), which draws on data from the Department of Homeland Security,
While addressing reporters, Vance also highlighted broader concerns with the U.S.-Mexico border and vowed stronger action against drug cartels, criticizing the Biden administration for its border policies. Vance expressed confidence that a Trump presidency would implement tougher measures to address border security and immigration enforcement:
"I promise you that calvary is coming and when Donald Trump is president, we're going to kick the cartels' asses, and we're going to do it for you and for every person in this room"
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