By Chris Cameron
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who is aligned with former President Donald Trump, heightened the former president’s criticism of legal immigration this week, promising to terminate programs that permit hundreds of thousands of immigrants to reside and work in the United States.
“What Donald Trump is suggesting is that we will halt mass parole and cease large-scale grants of Temporary Protected Status,” Vance declared during a campaign gathering in Peoria, Arizona. “Naturally, there will be individuals escaping oppression, but that should be evaluated individually, not by employing some magic government solution.”
Later, in Tucson, Arizona, Vance sidestepped inquiries from local journalists regarding the deportation of DACA participants and the revival of family separations at the border. While not directly mentioning DACA, which stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Vance stated, “We also have to consider deportation, not only of dangerous individuals who entered our nation unlawfully, but also those who broke the law while entering the country. We must be ready to deport them.”
Approximately 864,000 immigrants receive legal residency through a program called Temporary Protected Status, established by Congress in 1990 for those fleeing conflict and other emergencies in their native countries. This program currently provides legal protection to immigrants from 16 nations, predominantly from Venezuela, El Salvador, and Haiti.
This month, Trump pledged to revoke legal status for Haitian immigrants, who have faced criticism from both him and Vance — notably in Springfield, Ohio. Vance’s statements on Tuesday seemed to broaden that commitment, implying that all immigrants with Temporary Protected Status would need to seek alternative means to remain in the country or risk deportation. Many immigrants from these countries would lack a clear pathway to temporary protection.
A spokesperson for Vance opted not to comment when asked for details regarding the plan to abolish Temporary Protected Status.
Vance also seemed to advocate for the conclusion of other parole initiatives that permit hundreds of thousands of immigrants to stay in the U.S. temporarily without visas or green cards. This month, the Biden administration announced it would allow one of these programs — designed for individuals from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua — to expire, highlighting the political pressures President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are under regarding immigration, along with the intent to mitigate Republican criticisms leading up to the election.
A Telemundo reporter questioned Vance in Peoria about Trump’s promise to deport Haitians in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status, and whether this action would encompass immigrants from other nations and migration programs. Vance once more referred to misidentified individuals in these programs as “illegal immigrants,” despite their legal status in the country, attributing rising expenses and other challenges to them.
“What Kamala Harris has done,” Vance stated at a defense manufacturing site in Peoria, “is exploit programs meant to assist individuals fleeing oppression, and she has utilized it to provide amnesty to countless individuals who have no lawful standing in this nation, and that must come to an end.”
